Studying in Germany – Information for foreign prospective students with disabilities or chronic diseases
Efforts to attract and recruit the "best academic minds" also call for the cross-border student mobility to be promoted on a sustainable basis. This is why academic degrees are being brought into line Europewide and universities are establishing joint support programmes for students and researchers as well as international cooperative projects.
Foreigner = Foreigner?
Various requirements and conditions have to be settled before prospective students with or without disabilities can take up a degree course in Germany. The status of the foreigner plays an important role here. We can distinguish between the following categories:
- Prospective students from the European Union (EU) and from countries that have equal status
- Non-EU foreigners holding a right of residence in Germany granted independently of their degree course
- Non-EU foreigners who enter the country for the purpose of studying
The first two groups - with the exception of asylum seekers - generally do not have to overcome any barriers based on the law concerning foreigners. All others have to provide various kinds of documents and certificates before they can be admitted to a degree course in Germany. There are also great differences regarding the possibilities of financing the study stay as well as the question of of continuing residence after the completion of studies.
Studying with disabilities in Germany - NO universities for everyone
In addition to the usual issues of finance and organisation, students with disabilities and chronic diseases may have to clarify problems regarding aspects such as assistance, technical aids, mobility, medical care and barrier-free accommodation. The most important questions in this context are:
- Where can I get the support I need?
- Who will bear the costs?
Many higher education institutions in Anglo-American countries have built up service systems that help foreign and non-foreign students with disabilities to study while being treated equally and without additional financial burdens. The requirement depends on the student's personal financial situation, the country of origin as well as other criteria. Service team staff are easy to contact. Advice is usually professional and support is generally provided swiftly and with little bureaucracy.
There is no comparable system in Germany. Universities generally offer little technical assistance or provide support staff for students with disabilities. They are generally not adequately equipped to make studying possible without assistance. The student advice centres are also often not attuned to the needs of student's with disabilities. There are no cross-institutional standards.
Social security benefits for foreign students remain an exception
The support system for disabled students in Germany focuses on individual assessment based on individual means testing. Various social security funding agencies may be responsible for bearing the costs of the additional expenditure incurred through a student's disability. Much of the support is only provided if the students can prove their "financial need", as they are mainly personally responsible for financing the additional expenditure incurred through their disability. But even if an entitlement exists, organising individual support can be very time- and energy-consuming as funding from a single source does not exist.
! Apart from very few exceptions foreign students are excluded from these state social benefits. !
This is why it is important for students from abroad, in particular, to arrange and secure in advance their financing for a study visit as well as the additional expenditures they have due to their disability, which are related to the planned study visit to Germany. Scholarships usually do not cover additional expenditures resulting from disabilities.
Arranging assistance and aids oneself
If the foreign students' entitlement to public support with regard to a disability is recognised in Germany, they should - just like their fellow German students - prepare to look themselves for assistance, to organise support or acquire the suitable technical aids themselves and, if necessary, find barrier-free accommodation. This may be tiresome and could take a lot of time. However, there are no central service facilities in Germany that could make such arrangements for students.
The following overview provides information on admissions requirements for foreign students while especially taking into account the issue of studying with disabilities. It cannot replace detailed information from local on-site contacts.
