Germany: The winter wunderland for Indian students

There has been an influx of Indian students at German universities in the current winter semester. This follows a sharp decline in numbers in the summer of 2021 when there were travel bans imposed by Germany on India.

At least 330,000 international students are currently enrolled at German universities, according to a snapshot survey by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The number of international first-semester students has also grown again despite the COVID-19 pandemic and, according to DAAD projections, is at least 72,000.

Almost 160 universities from all over Germany took part in the survey. According to the survey, the number of international students at German universities will continue to rise in the winter semester of 2021-2022.

“The number of first-year students from abroad has also risen again after declines in the last winter semester. Increases of around 13% or more are much better than expected in the summer,” said DAAD President Dr. Joybrato Mukherjee. “These figures are a very good sign for the attractiveness of Germany as a place to study. They also show that the joint commitment of member universities and the DAAD to attracting and supporting international students is paying off, especially during the worst pandemic in 100 years.”

Indian students in Germany: 2020 analysis in 2020

The number of Indian students in Germany continues to be on the rise. The latest figures released by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany reveal that the number of Indian students in Germany has grown by 20.85% over the last year and stands at 25,149 (Winter Semester 2019-20), significantly surpassing the overall growth rate of international students.

There are five times more Indian students going to Germany than o five times that of the global average with Indians forming the second largest group of international students enrolled at German universities.

The majority of Indian students joined German universities to study engineering (67%) followed by management and social studies (15%), mathematics and natural sciences (12%). Of these, 63% chose universities or technical universities (TU) and the remaining 37% joined universities of applied sciences (FH). There are nearly three times (72.6%) more male students than female (27.4%).

Despite COVID-19, the interest of international applicants in studying in Germany in 2020 remains unbroken. According to recent figures released by the uni-assist, and the DAAD, almost 60,000 prospective international students from over 180 countries, applied for admission to a German university for the upcoming winter semester 2020. This number of applications is around 80% of the previous year’s figure, which is an insignificant change given the current global health crisis.

“Top health care services, proactive response to the pandemic situation and the low cost of education are some of the factors inspiring students to consider Germany as a preferred higher education destination,” says Amandeep Singh, who is pursuing his master’s degree at the RWTH Aachen University.

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