The admission requirements and application proves depend on which education system you have gone to school in, and what sort of (national) curriculum you learned.
| School in the system of an EEA member country | School issuing the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma | School in the system of any other country (including UK) |
|---|---|---|
If your certificate is German, it needs to be an “Allgemeine Hochschulreife” (Abitur or European Baccalaureate) or a “Fachgebundene Hochschulreife” with the Fachbindung “Technik”. If your certificate is not German, it must be equivalent to either:
Please use the uni-assist tool to check what your certificate translates into: https://www.uni-assist.de/en/tools/check-university-admission/ | Your IB diploma must be equivalent to either:
Please see this web page about how your IB Diploma can meet the criteria | Applicants who are not EU citizens and whose school certificates were attained outside the school systems of European Economic Area (EEA) member countries have to include evidence of having attained the specified results in one of the following Higher Education Aptitude Tests:
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In addition, either your school certificate must show that you learned English (up to a level that is equivalent to B2 CEFR), or that you were taught through the medium of English, or you need one of the language certificates the University recognises. | In addition, either your school certificate must show that you learned English (up to a level that is equivalent to B2 CEFR), or that you were taught through the medium of English, or you need one of the language certificates the University recognises. | In addition, either your school certificate must show that you were taught through the medium of English, or you need one of the English language certificates the University recognises. |
You will apply / enrol directly via the campus portal of the University. | You must apply via uni-assist, by 15 July. | You must apply via uni-assist, by 15 July. |
No.
The University of Passau will only offer you a place of study if you include evidence that you meet the criteria mentioned in the academic requirements.
Submitting a Higher Education aptitude test certificate is a rigid requirement if your academic certificates were attained outside the EEA / European system. This applies even for applicants who already have an impressive list of (academic or professional) achievements.
If you are not an EU citizen and your academic qualifications were attained outside the member countries of the European Economic Area, yes – even if your qualifications include a university degree.
If your university entrance qualifications were attained outside the member countries of the European Economic Area, then yes, you need to supply an aptitude test result, even if another European or German university has accepted you on their degree programme.
However, if you have completed your studies and achieved an undergraduate degree (Bachelor’s, Master’s) from a recognised university inside the EEA, this does count as a European university entrance qualification. In that case, no aptitude test is needed to gain admission to the Bachelor AI.
No.
The score requirements are non-negotiable, rigid cut-off points. As they are written into the regulations of the degree programme, the University cannot use any discretion on these criteria. However, if you narrowly missed the required grade, you may want to consider re-taking the aptitude test to improve on your score.
The University of Passau does not use uni-assist’s VPD documentation as admission criteria.
The University of Passau does not offer a foundation year.
In terms of the Studienkolleg route, please keep in mind that attending a Studienkolleg for a year in order to get access to a German university isn’t a feasible pathway for most applicants. To be admitted to a Studienkolleg, you need to have German language skills at level B2 CEFR and pass an entrance exam. At the end of the year, there is a second exam to gain admission to the university. If you are applying to university from abroad, you would have to meet the same financial thresholds to get a visa for studying at a Studienkolleg, and then spend a year at the Studienkolleg in Munich, which is a very expensive city to live in.
You will have to apply via uni-assist, as the IB is a Swiss qualification. However, you will not need to submit an aptitude test if you have an IB Diploma that meets the criteria set out by the German Kultusministerkonferenz.
If you have problems getting a visa in time, please contact the Student Registration Office in advance to find out your options. You may have to defer your enrolment until the next intake, but if they don’t hear from you, your offer of admission will expire.
Everyone who meets all the admission criteria and who applies will be offered a place of study.
Applicants need to have English language skills equivalent to level B2 of the CEFR. You can prove this by submitting a recognized language certificate, or by showing that you have previously been taught through the medium of English in school / university.
There is no German language requirement for enrolling on the programme.
Students whose prior education was not completed in German should acquire German language skills for everyday life and professional competence (at least at level B1 CEFR) while studying the degree programme. Theses German courses are part of the degree programme and free of charge.
The University of Passau does not charge tuition fees. There is a “semester contribution” fee, which finances the Student Services Association and includes a bus pass.
The bigger financial hurdle is that, if you need a visa to stay in Germany for more than 90 days (i.e. if you aren’t a citizen of an EEA country or Switzerland), you will have prove to immigration authorities that you can sustain yourself financially before you apply for the visa.
The University does not provide scholarships that fully fund your studies. There are scholarships that enrolled students (including international students) can apply for (e.g. Deutschlandstipendium), but these are modest supplements to their finances.
If you need scholarships to meet the financial thresholds for getting a visa, your best bet is the DAAD, which offers such scholarships to international students. Their scholarships database also includes external scholarships.
The University employs many students in various (paid) jobs that help them gain work experience. Passau is a small city, but a popular tourist destination in the summer due to the river cruise ships, many of which start or end their journeys in Passau. So there is always demand for people to work in the tourism / service sector, including part-time jobs.
Meanwhile, students on computer science related programmes often prefer to take up remote work while studying in Passau, as the IT sector is fairly used to hiring remote workers. In Passau itself, there are several IT companies and consultancies.
There are many student halls and many student flatshares in Passau. Finding accommodation is not very hard. Visit the housing page to find out about the different housing options. Assume that you’ll spend somewhere around 400 Euros a month on rent – but obviously the costs can be greater or smaller, depending on your needs and the accommodation you choose.
You need to arrive in Passau at the start of the semester (beginning of October). There are important events that introduce you to the computing facilities and refresher classes to help you start into the course successfully. In addition, German universities can be a bit bewildering in terms of the administrative and bureaucratic processes, and you need to be on site to put together your timetable and sign up for the right classes. Arriving late would be detrimental to your chances of succeeding in your studies.
In the orientation week, the student committee can assist you with this. Keep in mind: you must progress through the programme at a certain pace in order to be able to graduate. There are interim milestones you must achieve.
By the end of your third semester in Passau, you need to have successfully attained 30 ECTS credits. If you miss that target, you get another chance, but you will have to attain a total of at least 40 ECTS credits by the end of the fourth semester. The second target is non-negotiable. Students who fail to achieve 40 ECTS credits by the end of their fourth semester are not allowed to re-enrol and cannot complete their studies.
You can take up to 8 semesters to complete your Bachelor’s degree. If you haven’t completed it after 8 semesters, this counts as one failed attempt. If you don’t manage to complete it within 10 semesters, you won’t be able to graduate.
You can include an internship of 240 hours (six weeks of full-time work) in the Occupational Skills module group. It will be credited with four ECTS credits without being graded.
