Information for Refugees

University entrance qualification

A higher education entrance qualification (Hochschulzugangsberechtigung / HZB) is usually a school-leaving certificate or first degree with which you are also allowed to study in your home country. You can check for yourself how your qualifications are assessed in Germany without obligation on the DAAD website.

School and university qualifications are assessed and sorted into three categories:

• Direct access: The degree is directly accepted for a course of study.
• Assessment test/Studienkolleg: You have to attend a Studienkolleg for subject-related preparation for the degree programme before you can study.
• Subject-oriented: If you have a subject-oriented HZB, you may only study certain subjects. The subject area is determined, for example, by the subject area in which you have a school leaving certificate or study experience.

Language skills

In order to study at LUH, you must provide proof of special language skills, depending on the course of study. German certificates are required for every Bachelor's and almost all Master's degree programmes at level C1. Some Master's programmes require English at level B2 or C1.

You can find the required language levels and other admission requirements in our list of degree programmes.

You can find information on which language certificates the LUH accepts on the LLC website.

Many applicants from abroad have to attend a Studienkolleg for one year and pass a final examination (= Feststellungsprüfung/assessment test) before they can study. After this, you have a direct subject-related HZB. To be accepted at the Studienkolleg, you must pass an entrance test.

• The Studienkolleg offers courses that prepare you for the entrance exam.
  You can find more informatin on this on the Studienkolleg website.
• You cannot apply directly for the Studienkolleg. Please apply at a university or college for your desired subject. You will then receive an invitation to take the entrance examination at the Studienkolleg.
   

Your school leaving certificate does not allow you to study in Germany?

• Student Advisory Services can advise you on alternative ways to obtain a higher education entrance qualification or a school leaving certificate in Germany.
• You can also get advice from the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (Industrie- und Handelskammer) or the Employment Agency (Arbeitsagentur) about an apprenticeship or other alternatives.

Please download the form "Disclosure of Educational Data for Refugees" and fill it out thoroughly. Be sure to include all the documents that can prove the claims you make on the form. After that, please apply for the desired study programme using the LUH online application portal. Please upload the self-disclosure form and all the required documents to the Leibniz University Hannover application portal.

Studienkolleg:

Application period:

• December 1–January 15 for summer semester
• June 1–July 15 for winter semester

Bachelor:

The application deadlines for prospective students from Germany and the EU countries apply.

Master:

The application deadlines for prospective students from non-EU countries apply.

You can apply as described above and have your achievements from abroad recognised after enrolment. However, it is likely that not all achievements will be recognised.

You can find more information on the page on recognition of achievements.

At Leibniz University Hannover, it is possible to apply for an undergraduate degree programme even if your certificates are incomplete or completely missing. In this case, please use the self-disclosure form „Disclosure of Educational Data for Refugees“ for the application to explain why the certificate documents cannot be submitted. Apart from that, the application process remains the same.

Some master’s degree programmes also allow refugees to apply with incomplete or missing certificates. If you are interested in applying for a master’s degree programme and would like to learn more, please contact us by email.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us by email.

You can register for the guest student programme. This is offered free of charge for asylum seekers and at a reduced rate for people receiving social benefits. You can attend almost all lectures and write exams in consultation with the lecturers. Achievements can later be credited towards a "real" degree programme. There is no legal entitlement to this and recognition is clarified with the faculty in each individual case. Guest students are not students and do not receive semester tickets. However, they do receive access to the university WLAN and can use the library and the services of the University Sports Centre and the Leibniz Language Centre.

You can find additional information on the website of the guest student programme (in German only).

The Refugee Law Clinic offers free legal advice for refugees and asylum seekers.

BAföG for refugees

You can apply for BAföG if you have a residence permit according to the following regulations:

• §§ 22, 23 paragraph 1 or 2
• §§ 23a, 25 paragraph 1 or 2
• §24
• § 25a

You are welcome to use the BAföG advising service of Studentenwerk. The Job Centres in Lower Saxony continue to pay benefits if the BAföG application has not yet been processed.

Tolerated foreigners (§60 a of the Residence Act, §25 paras. 3, 4 and 5 AufenthG) can apply for BAFöG if they have been residing legally, permitted or tolerated in the Federal territory for 15 months without interruption.

Your asylum application has not yet been decided and you have been in Germany for less than 15 months? Benefits can still be paid in accordance with the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act.

Working at and outside the university

The job exchange is where you will find current job advertisements from the university. There you can apply for a job as a student assistant at LUH, for example. You can also contact your institute to ask about vacancies.

If you are looking for work outside the university, you can use the website Stellenticket or jobbico to find jobs or internships.

Scholarships

To find a suitable scholarship you need to allow some time. There are good websites that list many scholarships. It is up to you to decide whether a scholarship is right for you. It is worth applying!

The DAAD is the world's largest funding organisation for the international exchange of students and academics. You can find the DAAD scholarship database here.

The Begabtenförderungswerke also offer scholarships specifically for refugees and international students:

• Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung
• Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (German language only)
• Friedrich Naumann Stiftung 
• Konrad Adenauer Stiftung
• Avicenna Studienwerk for muslim students 

Further scholarship programmes

• Brot für die Welt
• Care Concept 
• Garantiefonds Hochschule der Otto Bennecke Stiftung 

You can find a list of German courses offered on the page linked here.

Please contact us directly about current offers at Leibniz Universität Hannover.

To prepare or accompany your studies, we offer an online mathematics course for people of foreign origin. The course helps you to refresh, renew and improve your mathematics skills. The course is completely free of charge.

You can find all further information here (in German only).