Information for

Zwei bunte Hände halten ein Pappschild mit der Aufschrift "Refugees welcome"

Information for refugees and asylum seekers

As far as the admission to a degree programme is concerned, you are treated just like any other international student applicant.

You need to have

  • a higher education entrance qualification and
  • a sufficient level of German

(see below)

If the German language skills are not sufficient for a study application (C1 / C2), there is the possibility that Ukrainian students will enroll as exchange students. However, this only makes sense if the courses offered in English match the previous studies and ECTS can be acquired. At the same time, German courses can be attended. You cannot obtain a degree in this way. The offer is rather intended as a bridging option.
Contact: incoming-international(at)oth-regensburg.de
Please send
- proof of your enrolment at a Ukrainian university
- a list of selected courses

The Society for Academic Study Preparation and Test Development (Gesellschaft für Akademische Studienvorbereitung und Testentwicklung e.V. - g.a.s.t.) supports Ukrainian refugees on their way to Germany and to a German university with partly free learning and test offers. Interested Ukrainian refugees can register here: www.daad-ukraine.org/en/studying-in-germany/welcome-to-digital-campus/
Anyone who rates his or her German language skills with the onSET receives a free German course from Deutsch-Uni Online (DUO) for the next higher language level with the registration.

German language courses

if you already have German language skills on a good level B1, a preparatory German language course might be interesting for you.

Online German language courses at the Goethe Institute - with discount for Ukrainians

Courses of the field "German as a foreign language" of the Virtual University of Bavaria (vhb)

University courses

The Virtual University of Bavaria (vhb) opens its offer for Ukrainian students: Those who had to interrupt their studies in Ukraine due to the war can take online courses at Bavarian universities free of charge and earn ECTS points.

Orientation in Regensburg

There is an app called Integreat which summarizes all important information for refugees and asylum seekers in Regensburg (available in several languages, also Ukrainian).

Contact Points

The DAAD has set up the National Academic Contact Point Ukraine to facilitate an initial orientation for Ukrainian students and researchers (overview of support offers, information on the resumption / continuation of studies, visa matters, residence permits, etc.).

The coordination office Ukraine of the Bavarian Academic Center for Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe BAYHOST bundles support and assistance offers and serves as a contact point for Ukrainian university members in Regensburg.

In order to attest your higher education entrance qualification, your certificates from your country of origin have to be recognized. In most cases you need to apply for a preliminary review documentation (so-called “Vorprüfungsdokumentation” = VPD) at uni-assist. There is no free application process for refugees anymore since January 2020.

Ukrainian study applicants usually need proof of 11 years of school education and a successful academic year for direct access to higher education. Usually a Studienkolleg must be attended without proof of studies. The Studienkolleg Coburg is responsible for the universities of applied sciences in Bavaria.

For people who cannot prove their Ukrainian degrees, it is possible to obtain an electronic self-disclosure. However, a qualified electronic signature is required for the application, which can only be applied for in Ukraine. Further information can be found on the state online platform "Dija".

For certain degrees, it is also possible to obtain the information available in EDEBO. For this purpose, an application must be submitted to "Inforesurs".

Syrian school leaving certificates with an average better than 70 % should allow an easy access to studies in Germany, especially the scientific branch.

Decisive for the further steps is the evaluation in the VPD.

German language skills at DSH level are required for most study degree programmes offered at OTH Regensburg, as the teaching language is German. (Exceptions are the two Master's degree programmes "European Business Studies" and "Electrical and Microsystems Engineering", which can be studied entirely in English. No proof of German is required for this.)

If you already have German language skills at B1 level, you may be interested in a preparatory German language course (“studienvorbereitender Deutschkurs”). The course fee can be financed within a certain framework for prospective students with a refugee background from the DAAD funding programme INTEGRA.

Under www.Hochschulkompass.de, you can search specifically for English-taught study degree programmes at German universities.

 

The onSET is an online language test that you can take at the ZSK of the University of Regensburg. You need it to register for a preparatory German language course.

Preparatory German language course

According to current information, living costs during the German courses may be financed by the Jobcenter (valid for the jobcenters in the Regensburg Region). Each case needs to be handled individually.

The Garantiefonds-Hochschule of the Otto-Benecke-Stiftung offers financial aids during the study preparation.

 

Degree programme

Refugees have the same possibilties to apply for financial support as all the other international students.

in addition refugees can apply for a so-called "Bildungskredit" (educational loan - the website is only available in German). According to your type of degree programme (Bachelor or Master) you need to meet certain requirements, e.g. proof of a certain amount of credits acquired during the first two semesters. 

There are only a few grants and scholarship programmes who explicitly address to refugees. The Federal Ministry of Education and research offers a data base where you can look for them.

Some examples of these programmes are:

For information about grants and scholarships in general please contact the Career Service under careerservices(at)oth-regensburg.de.

There is an app called Integreat which summarizes all important information for refugees and asylum seekers in Regensburg. It is available in German, English, Ukrainian, Arabic, Spanish and Russian. It can be downloaded in Google Play Store for free and is compatible with IOS and Android.

Advice and help for refugees in Regensburg is also available via CampusAsyl.

Further information for refugees can be found on the web page of the DAAD.