Applying With Certificates Issued Abroad

Prospective students who

• have obtained their university entrance qualification (Abitur, Baccalaureat, Diploma etc.) or their first university degree (Bachelor) outside Germany
• have already completed a preparatory course in Germany or
• do not have an entrance qualification for a university or a university of applied sciences that was issued by a German school abroad

always apply via uni-assist.

This also applies if

• you are a German citizen or
• you are or have already been enrolled with certificates issued abroad at another German university in a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree course and would like to change over to Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences.

Uni-assist will subsequently examine for Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences whether your certificates issued abroad meet the requirements of the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZaB) of the German Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs and are sufficient for university entrance.

1. First, you need to create a profile at https://my.uni-assist.de/.
2. Then you can upload your documents online:

-          University entrance qualification
-          Credits achieved at other institutions of higher education and graduation certificates
-          Proof of language proficiency

The application is submitted purely online. Depending on the study programme you apply for, further documents may be necessary. You will be informed about that separately in the application portal.

Important: You will need a certified translation of any documents that have not been drawn up in German or English. Please also note the processing fees charged by uni-assist.

3. Uni-assist will automatically forward your application documents to Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences if the examination is successful. Therefore, you will not have to apply to us directly.

Important: If you need a student visa for travelling to Germany, you will be able to apply for it with the message from uni-assist that your application has been forwarded to us.

4. Bielefeld UAS will send you a written admissions or rejection letter after the application process has been completed. Therefore, please make sure to keep your address details in the application portal of uni-assist updated at all times.
5. In your admissions letter, you will find the matriculation periods and further information for your study programme.

Application deadlines are 15 July of each year for the following winter semester and 15 January of each year for the following summer semester.

We wish you the best of luck!

The examination of your application documents is handled via uni-assist exclusively. This means that Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences is not able to give you any estimate on whether your certificates issued abroad qualify you for studying in Germany in principle.

However, the online database anabin offers information on the evaluation of school-leaving and university qualifications obtained abroad and will advise you on how your school-leaving qualification can be classified compared with the German schooling system.

In order to successfully study at Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences, German language skills are a must. Courses (lectures, exercises and seminars) are usually held in German. Therefore, all applicants with a university entrance qualification from abroad have to provide proof of appropriate language skills.

For this, the following language certificates are accepted:

• “TestDaF” examination with at least 16 credit points (i.e. four credit points per partial examination),
• “Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang” (DSH) with a minimum level of DSH 2,
• Passed German examination within the admission examination for a preparatory course,
• “Deutsches Sprachdiplom” level II of the German Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK),
• “Kleines deutsches Sprachdiplom” or “Großes deutsches Sprachdiplom” obtained from Goethe-Institut on behalf of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München,
• Certificate of passed “Zentrale Oberstufenprüfung” (ZOP) of Goethe-Institut,
• “Prüfung zum Nachweis deutscher Sprachkenntnisse”(PNdS),
• Proof of graduation in German Philology at a university abroad,
• “telc Deutsch C1 Hochschule” or
• At least 10 years of attending school in Germany.

An exception is made for the “Design” study programmes, which require only a level of B2 (CEFR) in German. Here, the following language certificates for proof of German-language skills are accepted:

• “TestDaF” examination with at least three credit points per partial examination (4x3),
• “Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang” (DSH) with a minimum level of DSH 1,
• “telc Deutsch B2”,
• “telc Deutsch B2+ Beruf”,
• “Goethe-Zertifikat B2”.

If you already have intermediate German-language skills (i.e. level B1/B2) or proof of 800 hours of German language courses, you can be enrolled at Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences as a language course student. Preparatory language courses are held by the Bielefeld based language institute bibis in cooperation with Bielefeld University and Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences. However, you may also take a course at another approved language institute.

The application for the language course is also processed via uni-assist. Your application will be automatically forwarded to Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences by uni-assist with the information that a language course will be necessary.

You will receive a written admissions letter to the language course in March or September of each year. For this, you will be able to formally register for a preparatory language course at bibis or another language institute. Subsequently, you will be able to enrol at Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences as a language course student. This matriculation is possible for a maximum of two semesters. You will have to bear the costs for the language course yourself.

Please find further information on the language course on the bibis website.

In principle, you need to apply for the first study semester via uni-assist first. After successful examination and admission for your chosen study programme, you will be able to accredit academic achievements of the same field of study obtained abroad by the registrar's and examination office of Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences or by the faculty’s advisors.

If you are already studying at a German university, you also need to apply for a place of study at Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences via uni-assist.

If you have created a profile at uni-assist for applying to your current university, you will be able to use it for a total of two years. Within these two years, you will also be able to apply to other universities with your profile. However, there are separate processing fees for this.