Germany Plans to Cross 400000 International Students in 2024-2025

The results of a snapshot survey of 200 German universities conducted in December 2024 have been made public by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). According to DAAD's projections based on those survey replies, 405,000 international students will enroll in German higher education during the winter semester of 2024–2025. That is the biggest annual growth in the last ten years and an increase of around10% year over year.  Approximately 90% of universities say that the number of new international students enrolled is either unchanged or increasing. One-third of the universities questioned indicated a significant increase (10% or more), and more than half reported growing numbers. While nearly 10% of institutions reported a reduction, another third reported no change.

According to poll participants, the most significant obstacle for international students in Germany, is visa rules and processing (83%), availability of reasonably priced housing (75%), and study/living expenses in Germany (69%) came in close succession.  More reasonably priced housing for German and international students is desperately needed, stated Dr. Joybrato Mukherjee, president of the DAAD. Additionally, this is necessary for Germany to remain a hub for invention and commerce.

The survey's findings also highlighted the need for more employment possibilities and career assistance for international students. German universities are clearly very appealing to international students. Germany should do more in research, business, and society to create employment opportunities in Germany for young people who come to Germany for study, as there is a growing scarcity of skilled workers.

Nevertheless, within the past year, the German government has implemented additional labor force transition assistance for international students in partnership with universities around the nation. Among these efforts is a budgetary commitment of as much as €120 million until 2028 to facilitate foreign graduates' transfer to the workforce. Also, recently the government has taken action to quadruple the weekly hours that international students are permitted to work while they are enrolled in classes.

Germany is looking forward to inviting more skilled professionals to their country who can add more value to their economy and add more diversity to their culture. They have started various initiatives to make sure that graduates find it easy to transition into the workforce. Having such a welcoming attitude towards foreign students, when the traditional big players of the market are busy putting caps on enrollments and increased visa rejections, to stabilize the growing international numbers in these countries, Germany right now should feel like the knight in shining armor for the aspiring international students.

Germany has always maintained the level of quality in its education, that meets global standards, without really getting the limelight compared to other international educational giants like Australia, USA, UK and Canada. With the world order of the international education market seemingly up for a change, Germany seems ready to reap the rewards of a well-structured education system that has stood the test of time.