Today, over 300,000 foreign students are studying in Germany
International orientation is one of the key topics for German universities today. According to the Association of Private Sponsors of German Science (Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft), 75 percent of them consider it an integral characteristic and give it an important place in strategic planning. Researchers came to this conclusion after surveying the heads of all universities and colleges in Germany in 2014. The assessment is subjective, but what do the facts say?
The internationalization of higher education is expressed in several aspects. One of them is academic exchange, and in particular, the presence of foreign students, lecturers, and researchers at the university. In music, art, and dance academies, this issue has long been resolved. On average, according to the study, every third student comes here from abroad to study. And among the teaching staff, the concentration of foreigners is three times higher than in other universities – 17 percent of the total number of lecturers.
In contrast, other universities and colleges are full of ambition. As the survey showed, they plan to double the number of foreign lecturers – currently only 5 percent. Moreover, the rectors of nine out of ten universities would like to see the share of foreign students increase from the current 10 percent to 14 percent in the coming years. Currently, over 300,000 foreign students are studying in Germany.
Another important criterion is the availability of educational programs in a foreign language (most often English). In universities, 22 percent of specialties are taught partially in a foreign language and 17 percent completely. In colleges, the range of such academic services is somewhat narrower: 15 and 7 percent of specialties respectively.
As for the content of teaching, 16 percent of curricula in the surveyed universities were synchronized with corresponding programs in other countries. The plan is to increase this figure to 28 percent.
Overall, compared to colleges, universities have not only more foreign students and professors but also more research staff: in colleges, every 20th specialist is from abroad, while in universities, it is every 7th.
A noticeable difference exists between public and private universities. In private universities, the international orientation is much stronger – both in the content of curricula (32 percent of them were synchronized) and in the availability of English-language specialties (22 percent of them). One drawback: the number of foreigners among staff at private universities is about the same as at public universities. However, the targets they plan to achieve in the future are much higher.
How actively the ideals of internationalization are implemented in practice also depends on the faculty. Departments of natural sciences and economics approach this with great enthusiasm. At the same time, for engineering faculties, this issue is not a priority, despite the fact that, according to the Federal Statistical Office, they educate 27 percent of all foreign students in Germany.
On average, public universities spent 89 euros per foreign student last year. Universities with a technical focus spent a quarter less. Elite universities allocated over 140 euros. And the leaders were once again private universities, which allocated 200 euros from their budget for each foreign student.