Though slightly below DAAD’s December 2024 forecast of 405,000 students for the 2024/25 winter semester, up from 380,000 in 2023/24, the growth still highlights Germany’s appeal as a top study destination, according to DAAD president Joybrato Mukherjee.
“More than 400,000 international students and doctoral candidates confirm Germany’s position as the most important non-English-speaking host country. Universities have once again proven their attractiveness to talented individuals from all over the world,” stated Mukherjee.
According to Wissenschaft weltoffen 2025, a flagship report by DAAD and German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW), first-year international enrolments in Germany rose to a record 116,600 from 88,000 last year, with Asia Pacific now the largest source region (33%), followed by North Africa and the Middle East (19%), and Western Europe (15%).
Geopolitical developments, DAAD’s active promotion, and skill-based programs with Germany are all contributing to the country’s growing attractiveness
Bala S. Ramani, Leibniz University Hannover
India has again emerged as the largest country of origin for international students with just under 59,000 students, up 20% year on year, followed by China in second place with around 38,600 students, marking a 7% decline since the 2019/20 winter semester.
Germany introduced the APS (Akademische Prüfstelle) certificate process in India in October 2022, similar to China and Vietnam, to verify students’ academic credentials amid concerns over fraudulent applications.
Although the process has faced criticism for causing visa delays among Indian students, the German Embassy in India says most applications are now finalised within a few days “owing to increased staff and procedural optimisation”.
However, the German ambassador to India, Philipp Ackermann, has warned Indian students to “not trust their agents too much”, noting that Berlin’s missions in India still reject roughly 25% of study visa applications, with private education agents partly contributing to the high rejection rate.
According to data shared with The PIE News, APS had finalised over 110,000 applications as of August 2025 since its introduction, with improved visa processes and policy shifts elsewhere making Germany an increasingly attractive destination, according to stakeholders.
“Since 2010, enrolments from India have increased strategically, with many tuition-free universities offering English-language programs,” stated Bala S. Ramani, Leibniz ambassador, Leibniz University Hannover, adding that Indian student associations provide services, including pre-departure sessions, for those planning to study in Germany.
“The visa process has significantly improved over the past year, with few complaints, thanks largely to India and Germany’s cooperation. Geopolitical developments, DAAD’s active promotion, and skill-based programs with Germany are all contributing to the country’s growing attractiveness.”
According to Nidhi Krümpelmann, co-founder and managing director of Adler & Pfau, an organisation focused on helping Germany meet its workforce needs through skilled migration, Germany — compared to countries such as the US and the UK — offers affordable education, even at private universities, with annual tuition often around €8,000.
“This contrasts sharply with the UK, where a Master’s program can easily cost £15,000 per year or more. Students are also allowed to work up to 20 hours per week, which helps with living costs and early exposure to the job market,” stated Krümpelmann.
While Indian students and professionals face concerns around qualification recognition, cultural and workplace mismatches, and gaps in understanding how the German labour market works, Germany will need a “clear and reliable” India-to-Germany pipeline for priority skills if it is to continue attracting high-quality talent from India, according to Krümpelmann.
“International students should be treated as a core talent pool, especially since many struggle to transition into employment after completing their degrees,” said Krümpelmann.
“At the same time, qualification recognition needs to be faster and more predictable, and greater investment is required in language training capacity, local administrative staff, and integration services. Sustainable immigration is less about lowering numbers and more about aligning intake with real infrastructure and support on the ground.”
Moreover, 80 German universities visited India earlier this year to strengthen academic and research partnerships, signalling significant progress in Germany’s internationalisation efforts in recent years.
“The number of international employees in university administration has risen sharply in recent years. The vast majority of higher education institutions in Germany now have an international office,” stated Marcus Beiner, scientific director at DZHW.
“Almost all higher education institutions offer at least one English-language degree programme. The number of international higher education partnerships is also continuing to grow.”
According to the report, state-recognised universities in Germany offered nearly 2,400 English-language programs, about 420 bachelor’s and 1,930 master’s, representing 4% and 18% of programs at each level, respectively.
Further data showed that most international students in Germany study engineering (43%) or economics, law, and social sciences (25%), with dropout rates slightly higher than German students but lower than previously estimated.
Based on the first three semesters, the dropout rate for international first-year students in 2020 was 16% for bachelor’s and 9% for master’s degrees – particularly low at art and music colleges and comparatively high in humanities and health sciences – while for German students the rates were 13% and 6%, respectively.
According to a DAAD spokesperson, the slightly higher dropout rates could be largely linked to language issues. International students in humanities and health sciences often study in German, and health sciences programmes may also require a basic knowledge of Latin, which can contribute to higher dropouts.
“To address this, international students in these fields should, on the one hand, have a higher level of German proficiency prior to taking up their courses of study and, on the other hand, universities should support the German language skills of their international students on German-speaking programmes as well,” the spokesperson told The PIE.
Despite research from the German Economic Institute warning that around 768,000 specialist roles could remain unfilled by 2028, only about one-third of international students feel prepared to start their careers in Germany, with many seeking stronger career support.
While universities now have career centres focused on entrepreneurship and the startup ecosystem, helping students align their profiles with German employers’ needs, learning German remains central to integrating international students into the labour market, according to Ramani.
“The German language remains key and is crucial in the job market,” stated Ramani.
“Universities support German language learning, while companies are equipped to take care of workers through buddy systems and by offering additional courses.”
While organisations such as DAAD, through programs like the Fachkräfte Initiative (skilled workers initiative), and initiatives supporting German universities to enhance German language skills help international students begin their careers in Germany, it was also highlighted that German companies — especially small and medium-sized enterprises — need to enable the use of English in their workplaces.
“In general, companies need to be more tolerant of employees who do not speak German as a first language,” stated the spokesperson.
“Together with the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft Köln, we have addressed these issues and are continuously lobbying for such a change in society and the economy.”
With the Wissenschaft weltoffen report showing that international students and research candidates account for 26% and 28% of all students respectively, Germany’s housing crisis, already hitting university students, has had a particularly severe impact on internationals.
A 2023 study by the Eduard Pestel Research Institute found that Germany’s shortage of over 700,000 apartments, combined with rising rents in university towns, has particularly affected international students, who often lack the financial guarantees available to domestic students.
“Accommodation is a major issue, there’s little new housing, self-financed students face challenges, and it ultimately comes down to local councils and availability,” stated Ramani.
The number of German students studying abroad also remained stable, with around 138,800 enrolled at international universities in 2022, according to the DAAD-DHZW joint report.
The most popular destinations were Austria (37,800), the Netherlands (22,600), Switzerland (12,500), and the UK (9,600), with the latter seeing a 32% drop in German students.
