For the HAWK study programmes, you must apply online on the application portal, which is activated about 6 weeks before the application deadline. After the online application, you must send the printed and signed application together with the application documents listed to HAWK Hildesheim/Holzminden/Göttingen (International Office). As soon as we have received all your documents, we will check whether you are entitled to study at a German university on the basis of your documents and certificates. Without these documents, we cannot check your application and, if necessary, register you with the preparatory course (Studienkolleg).
Should it be necessary for you to apply early before the online application portal becomes available, you must first complete our application form, sign it and attach it to the application documents. You must still complete the online application shortly before the application deadline. Otherwise, admission is not possible.
For some Bachelor's degree programmes with restricted admissions, places are allocated on the basis of a nationwide co-ordination procedure. In order to be able to apply for such a place at HAWK, you must first register at hochschulstart.de and enter the applicant ID (BID) and applicant authentication number (BAN) generated there in your subsequent online application via the HAWK application portal. Please check the requirements of the degree programme you wish to study.
You must include the following documents with your application:
The following German language examinations will be accepted:
Prospective students and students who wish to stay longer than three months at a university in Germany need a valid residence permit for study purposes.
These residence permits will not be issued by the Aliens Department responsible in Germany unless a valid study visa for studying in Germany is produced.
Exceptions to this regulation are study applicants and students from the EU states and the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) and from states with which the Federal Republic of Germany has agreed on deviating regulations.
This currently applies to Andorra, Australia, Brazil, El Salvador, Great Britain, Honduras, Israel, Japan, Canada, Monaco, New Zealand, San Marino, Switzerland, South Korea and the USA.
They must apply for a residence permit within three months of entering the country.
The visa must be applied for and issued at a German mission abroad (embassy, consulate) before you enter the country.
You should never enter Germany as a tourist if you want to study or do research. It is not possible to change a tourist visa into a study visa.
At the German mission abroad in your home country, you can obtain information on the regulations in force for entry and residence in Germany.
If you have not yet been admitted to university, the German mission abroad can issue a so-called "applicant visa".
This also applies to applicants who wish to attend the Studienkolleg or a language course first. The residence permit issued in this way can be converted into a residence permit for study purposes after successful admission.
You will need the following documents in order to obtain an applicant visa:
The German embassy or consulate in your home country will inform you which certificates are recognised and whether further proof may be required.
To issue a visa for study purposes, the same documents are required as for the applicant visa. Instead of an application confirmation, however, the university's notification of admission must be submitted here.
With a residence permit for study purposes, non-EU foreigners may work 120 full days or 240 half days per year in Germany.
In order not to have to claim any social benefits from the German state during their stay, foreign applicants/students from a third country must prove that they have the equivalent of the BAföG maximum funding rate for a period of one year (which equals € 10,332 or € 861 per month, last updated in May 2021).
Proof of financing can be show by:
You must inquire locally as to which of these financing documents is recognised by the German mission in your home country.
For one semester at HAWK you will have to pay between 300-400 Euro semester fees, depending on the study location. This includes a ticket to ride the local trains in Lower Saxony free of charge (and for the study locations in Hildesheim and Göttingen also the city buses).