Study in Germany in English: 10 best universities for international students

Germany is famous for its low and almost non-existent tuition fees for international students.

In Deutschland, you can earn a bachelor’s or master’s in veterinary medicine for just US$1,000 per year at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover (TiHo), and some universities, like the Technical University of Munich, don’t even require you to pay an application fee.

Then, there’s the sheer range of educational options to choose from.

With over 420 universities and other higher education institutions in Germany, 13 of which are on the University of Excellence list, a government initiative awarding these universities additional funding to further their research, you’re spoiled for choice.

But perhaps the best news is that you can study in Germany in English with little to no problem.

Most German universities offer English-taught degrees.

The country itself is ranked #1 in Europe and #6 in the world for total non-native English speakers, with approximately 45.5 million Germans speaking the lingua franca as a second language.

There, top cities like Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, and Frankfurt are where you would find people with the most proficiency in English. This means universities in those areas typically offer English-taught programmes, allowing you to start your studies immediately without spending another year or more to master the country’s mother tongue first.

However, it’s worth noting that, like anywhere else, Germans take pride in their national language.

German is also the official language of five other countries: Austria, Belgium, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. So, learning basic German will not only be helpful at the supermarket checkout counter but also when you travel to these neighbouring countries.

With that said, here’s a look at 10 of the best universities to study in Germany in English:

10 universities to study in Germany in English

1. LMU Munich

Location: Munich
Fee: Free of charge

With the second-largest student population of any university in Germany, the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, simply known as LMU Munich, attracts a large number of international hopefuls.

Currently, 11,178 students from all over the world have enrolled at the university, making up 20% of its population. This is well above the average German universities with only 16%.

It also has over 600 partnerships worldwide, ranging from research projects to global collaborations and mobility networks.

English programmes include:

• Astrophysics
• Epidemiology
• Meteorology
• Plant Science
• Software Engineering

2. Humboldt University of Berlin

Location: Berlin
Fee: Free of charge

If there is one thing that the Humboldt University of Berlin is known for, it is its impressive list of alumni and former faculty. You’ve got physicists Max Planck and Erwin Schrödinger, collectors and publishers of folklore, the Brothers Grimm, and philosopher Karl Marx, to name a few.

Albert Einstein was a faculty here too, teaching physics from 1915 until 1929. During his tenure, he was appointed director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Physics.

English programmes include:

• Biophysics
• English Literature
• European History
• Psychology
• Optical Sciences

3. University of Bonn

Location: Bonn
Fee: Free of charge

The University of Bonn is one of the leading research universities in Germany. This is proven by being the only university in the nation to earn as many as six Clusters of Excellence, with research ranging from mathematics to health.

The university has a way of making you feel at home the moment you step foot here. Its Study Buddy programme matches newly-arrived international students with a current student to help them adjust and start their life in the university and the city.

English programmes include:

• Cybersecurity
• Drug Research
• Geology
• Media Studies
• Nature Conservation and Landscape Ecology

4. RWTH Aachen University

Location: Aachen
Fee: Free of charge

Located at the heart of Europe and very close to the Dutch and Belgian border, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, or RWTH Aachen University for short, benefits from a mix of cultures and languages.

Known as the world’s first developer of wind tunnels and particle accelerators, the German institution prides itself on being the leading research university with global partners such as the University of Melbourne and ETH Zürich backing them up.

English programmes include:

• Applied Geophysics
• Data Science
• Simulation Sciences
• Sustainable Management
• Transforming City Regions

5. Freie Universität Berlin

Location: Berlin
Fee: Free of charge

The Freie Universität Berlin is part of the Berlin University Alliance, an association of three universities and a hospital in the nation’s capital.

This university is at the forefront of German higher education institutions when it comes to gender representation. In 2023, the proportion of women holding professorships was at an all-time high. A record-breaking 40% of professors teaching at the university are female.

English programmes include:

• Biodiversity, Evolution, Ecology
• Critical Dance Studies
• Iranian Studies
• Global East Asia
• Planetary Sciences and Space Exploration

6. Heidelberg University

Location: Heidelberg
Fee: US$1,560 per semester

Founded in 1386, Heidelberg University is the oldest university in Germany.

It is also one of the strongest research universities in Europe, with prominent figures such as Robert Bunsen, Hermann Helmholtz, Gustav Kirchhoff, and the father of modern sociology, Max Weber, all graduates of the university.

Besides modern sociology being founded in this university, sub-disciplines like psychiatric genetics and environmental physics were also discovered here, marking its innovative research and intellectual contributions across various subjects.

English programmes include:

• American Studies
• Matter to Life
• International Health
• Scientific Computing
• Transcultural Studies

7. University of Tübingen

Location: Tübingen
Fee: US$1,570 per semester

The University of Tübingen offers a various programmes at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels. Offering more than 200 study programmes — 50 of which are English-taught — the university provides interdisciplinarity in its curriculum, with research-based learning being its primary approach starting from the first semester.

Here, you are in the hands of more than 5,400 professors, scientists, and academics, all with a common goal – to see you succeed in your chosen career path.

English programmes include:

• Astro and Particle Physics
• Computational Linguistics
• Machine Learning
• Palaeolithic Archaeology
• Population-Based Medicine

8. University of Freiburg

Location: Freiburg im Breisgau
Fee: US$1,570 per semester

The University of Freiburg is one of Europe’s strongest research universities because of its broad spectrum of academic fields. Not only that, most of its research attempts to meet as many of the United Nations’s Sustainability Development Goals as possible, with good health and well-being (goal 3), sustainable cities and communities (goal 11), climate action (goal 13), and life on land (goal 15) as its central concern.

The university itself is also making efforts to become more sustainable by gradually becoming more climate-neutral and creating a healthy environment for students and professors to work together.

English programmes include:

• Environmental Governance
• Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Modern China Studies
• Solar Energy Engineering
• Sustainable Systems Engineering

9. Technical University of Munich

Location: Munich
Fee: US$2,090 – US$6,260 per semester

The Technical University of Munich is considered the best German institution, often ranked first in many top 10 lists. Evidently, 2019 was the third consecutive time they were included in the University of Excellence list since the birth of the Excellence Initiative in 2005.

Moreover, 19 Nobel Prizes have been awarded to graduates affiliated with the university, the most in the country. David Baker is the latest laureate in 2024 for his contribution to the field of computational protein design.

English programmes include:

• Aerospace
• AI in Society
• Ecological Engineering
• Horticultural Science
• Radiation Biology

10. Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Location: Berlin
Fee: US$17,200 – US$18,500 per programme

Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe. With research and training delivered by top physicians in the country, the university continues to contribute to the country’s healthcare by developing advancements in biomedicine and the overall medical system.

“Every euro Berlin invests in Charité is matched by external funds raised by our researchers, which has huge benefits for Berlin as a region in a number of ways,” says the Dean of Charité, Joachim Spranger.

English programmes include:

• Epidemiology
• Health Professions Education
• Public Health