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 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:
|
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 language certificates the University recognises. |
You will apply / enrol directly via the campus portal of the University, from June onwards. | 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 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.
As this programme is being launched in October 2025, there are only a small number of modules for higher semesters available, limiting your choices. In terms of the admissions process, you would have to meet all the same academic requirements as students enrolling into the first semester.
Please contact the faculty to discuss if you want to transfer into a higher semester on this programme.
The University of Passau does not offer a foundation year.
In terms of the Studiengkolleg 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.
For most applicants, studying towards an SAT or TestAS certificate is a far better route. The Studienkolleg is more likely to be a useful pathway if you already have an immigration status that allows you to stay in Germany and if you are already fluent in German.
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 (registry@uni-passau.de).
Please contact them 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.
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.
If you enrol on a degree programme at the University of Passau, you can take German language courses for free alongside your studies.
If you don’t already speak German and enrol on the B.Sc. Artificial Intelligence, you will be required to take German language classes, which will count towards your degree.
If you want to take a German course before you enrol on a degree programme, we offer certain options via German Courses Passau – however, these are not free.
For the 2025 intake, 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. This costs around 120 Euros per semester.
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 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.
The University of Passau is a reputable university with good results in international university rankings. At the Faculty of Computer Science and Mathematics, lecturers are experts in their fields. We expect that the student-staff ratio in this programme will be excellent, with small groups and good access to lecturers if you have questions. The quality of research done in Passau is good and the University has a good reputation among employers.
In terms of the student experience, Passau is the best-rated university in Bavaria and in sixth place in all of Germany on the Studycheck web portal – which is similar to Tripadvisor for German universities. The vast majority of our students would recommend us to their friends and families – and a large proportion of our student intake arrives here after having heard of us from our alumni. So if you are looking to study in a place where students are satisfied with their University, Passau is hard to beat.
Finally, the city of Passau is an affordable place to live (by German standards) and very scenic. We think you’ll feel right at home here.
You need to arrive in Passau at the start of the semester. 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.
Everyone who meets all the admission criteria and who applies will be offered a place of study.
The Bachelor’s programme does not include an internship or work placement. However, there is a large project in the curriculum. Students who are particularly keen for work experience are encouraged to discuss options with their lecturers, as lecturers can use their own industry contacts to set up projects in collaboration with external employers.
