Application and Admission

All applicants must meet the academic and language admission requirements!

Academic Admission Requirements

• Bachelor's degree, Dipl.-Ing. or equivalent degree in Mechatronics, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering or in a related field from a recognised university. The Bachelor's degree must certify completion of at least 3 years of study. Applicants must demonstrate a solid foundation in mathematics and physics.
  
  You may apply with preliminary documents if you have not yet completed your Bachelor's degree. All academic certificates indicating all years of study must be uploaded to the online Application Portal. However, please note that you must have completed your Bachelor's degree at the time of registration.
   
• Graduate Record Examination GENERAL TEST (GRE) scores must be uploaded to the online Application Portal if you have obtained your Bachelor's degree from a university outside the European Union. (ETS institution code 9024)

Language Requirements

• Proof of German language skills (Zertifikat Deutsch (level B1) or equivalent German language certificate must be uploaded to the online Application Portal).
• Proof of English language skills (TOEFL test score sheet or equivalent English language certificate must be uploaded to the online Application Portal; TOEFL minimum score: 210 on the computer-based test, 79 on the internet-based test, 550 on the paper-based test; IELTS minimum score: Band 6.0; native speakers from one of the following countries: Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, USA).
• Applicants from Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan must submit TOEFL or IELTS scores even if all their education has been in English. If you are admitted, the German Embassy will not issue you a visa if you cannot provide a current TOEFL or IELTS score sheet. Applicants from India who go to the German consulate in Chennai or Hyderabad are usually required to present a TOEFL or IELTS score sheet that is less than six months old at the time of visa application! This is a requirement of the consulate, not the university! Other embassies and consulates may set similar requirements.

Health Insurance

Under German law, all students must have valid health insurance. In order to enter Germany, they need travel insurance. Students can take out low-cost German student health insurance when they arrive. Student health insurance with one of the statutory health insurance companies costs about €56 per month for students under 30 years of age and must be taken out here in Germany before registration. The price is set by law and is the same for all statutory health insurers. For international students over the age of 30, private health insurance costs about €60 per month.

Visa

• If you are admitted to the Master's degree programme in Mechatronics at FH Aachen, we will send you a letter with which you can apply for a student visa at the German embassy in your home country. The embassy will then forward your visa application to the Foreigners' Office Aachen (Ausländeramt Aachen) for processing. The Foreigners' Office Aachen will then inform the embassy in your home country that you have been granted a visa. This procedure takes at least 6 weeks, but it usually takes much longer.
• Please note that you must also prove to the German embassy that you have enough money to support yourself during your first year in Germany. As a rule, you will have to prove that you have about €8,000 at your disposal.
• All students must apply for a student visa. You cannot study in Germany with a tourist visa. If you enter Germany on a tourist visa, you must return to your home country to apply for a student visa.
• For information on all other visa requirements for students from your country, check the website of the German embassy or consulate you will be visiting.

German Language Requirements

German language skills at the level of the "Zertifikat Deutsch" (B1 level) are only a basic level of German language competence. If you have the opportunity to attend an advanced German course in your home country, we strongly recommend that you do so. FH Aachen offers an intensive German course during the first three weeks of September. A supplementary offer is the "Aachen Language Summer" (Aachener Sprachsommer) in August.

Tuition Fees, Other Costs

You have to pay a student fee of currently 305.23 € per semester for the contributions to the Studierendenwerk (organisation providing social, financial and cultural support services to students in Germany), the Studierendenwerkwohlfahrtsfonds (Student Welfare Fund) and for the ticket for public transport in the region ("Semesterticket"). All fees must be paid before registration.

The cost of living, room and board, including health insurance, is generally around €700 per month.

FH Aachen - University of Applied Sciences does not offer scholarships for international or German students. International students are generally only allowed to work 90 days per year.