Studying MSc in Germany or Austria for no tuition fee

I have been trying to figure out how I could internationalize my career and with previously studying in London I am aware of the amount of EU and International students that study there and so I have been looking at studying out of the UK.

A lot of these universities - Heidelberg, LMU (See below) and the University of Vienna, for example - are offering english speaking masters programmes. (Also Ecole Polytechnique and SciencesPo in Paris)

Does anyone know if they favour native english speakers to such courses? Or is it for german and french speakers to learn english? It would be great to hone a second language!

I'm just trying to grasp if it is a growing trend to pursue masters degrees outside of the UK or is there an effort to get UK students to study out in Europe? This seems so from seeing the tuition fees or.. lack of!!!

An example..

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität-Munchen (in Munich, Germany), a 4 semester (2 year) M.Sc. in Economics for no tuition fee!

As compared to the only 2 year M.Sc. in Economics being at the LSE for £39,000. This is just an extreme case of high fees but most 1 year M.Sc. courses are £10,000.

What is going on? I am right in predicting a mass exodus to these courses in the future?

Additionally the universities I have mentioned are all in incredible surroundings and fascinating history - check out the University of Vienna to know exactly what I mean - it looks like a castle!

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1

username474976

15

That quotation in your signature isn't of Protagoras, it is simply in Plato's dialogue named Protagoras. The quotation is actually of Socrates imitating what an observer would say of him and Protagoras and their inconclusive debate.

Anyway, they are not as popular as you might imagine because there are only a limited number of subjects taught in English and even less that are free. To use your example of Vienna, they only have 8 programmes taught in English. Postgraduate study tends to be very specific so chances are that your course won't be taught in English at the particular university you favour. Also, a fair amount of postgraduate students live at home and thus save on rent/bills/food, which studying abroad would preclude. You also have to take into account the social aspect, reputation, the department, a potential supervisor, etc. If all of this fits with studying at a particular foreign university then it would make sense to pursue it.

Reply 2

gmpttt

Im from Munich, and LMU is a university which I wanted to attend for a very long time. It is just recently that they began incorporating a range of courses in English. It might take some time, but LMU is supposed to have quite a few more incoming in the next year.

http://www.en.uni-muenchen.de/students/degree/master_programs/index.html

I am not sure about the free tuition, but I cant imagine the pricing being higher than in the UK.

Reply 3

hobnob

14

Original post by Protagoras

Does anyone know if they favour native english speakers to such courses? Or is it for german and french speakers to learn english? It would be great to hone a second language!

I'd say that's unlikely. After all, those courses are still mainly targeted at German / Austrian / French students, it's just that conducting them in English is a way of attracting more international students (not necessarily just from English-speaking countries), plus arguably it's an advantage for those German / Austrian / French students planning to continue their studies abroad. That doesn't mean those courses are there for German and French speakers to learn English, though. They'll be reasonably fluent already, after having studied it at school for several years, so it'll be more about applying it in a specific way (i.e. giving presentations / having debates / writing coursework in English).
Anyway, the relevant part for you is that obviously one of the essential requirements for the course will be fluency in English - which you have, of course. So that's still a good thing, even if they may not actively favour you over another applicant from, say, Poland, purely because you're a native speaker.

By the way, doesn't Germany still require all international students to demonstrate at least a basic (i.e. roughly GCSE-standard) knowledge of German, or was that changed with the introduction of courses in English? :confused:

Reply 4

gmpttt

Original post by hobnob

By the way, doesn't Germany still require all international students to demonstrate at least a basic (i.e. roughly GCSE-standard) knowledge of German, or was that changed with the introduction of courses in English? :confused:

That is not the case for the English programmes, since they are entirely in English. I guess it would be counter intuitive to have that as a requirement. If I remember correctly, LMU has additional support/options for learning German. Most institutions will probably have such services.

Reply 5

hobnob

14

Original post by gmpttt

That is not the case for the English programmes, since they are entirely in English. I guess it would be counter intuitive to have that as a requirement. If I remember correctly, LMU has additional support/options for learning German. Most institutions will probably have such services.

Well, not that counter-intuitive. Even if the course is entirely in English, they'd still be living in a foreign country. Outside the classroom at least, some rudimentary knowledge of the language would probably be an advantage. But fair enough. :dontknow:

Reply 6

gmpttt

Original post by hobnob

Well, not that counter-intuitive. Even if the course is entirely in English, they'd still be living in a foreign country. Outside the classroom at least, some rudimentary knowledge of the language would probably be an advantage. But fair enough. :dontknow:

Undergrad courses will have language modules built in. Postgrad wont, but you always have an option to learn via the university.

I dont recall that competence in German was a requirement for entry at LMU, but I am sure that if your programme requires you to spend some time doing internships/consulting, then such a requirement might be more programme specific.

Reply 7

Nathanielle

15

Original post by hobnob

By the way, doesn't Germany still require all international students to demonstrate at least a basic (i.e. roughly GCSE-standard) knowledge of German, or was that changed with the introduction of courses in English? :confused:

No, they don't. Although I would recommand it from personal experience, because while it will be no problem to talk to your fellow students it limits the options, both in taking part in everyday life and profiting from the larger educational options, such as lectures from other fields or just being able to reallly choose freely.

You should try to choose a course without German alternative at the University, as it will make integration easier and won't mean you are only surrounded by International Masters, as new to the University as you.

Reply 8

1024796

3

Original post by Protagoras

I have been trying to figure out how I could internationalize my career and with previously studying in London I am aware of the amount of EU and International students that study there and so I have been looking at studying out of the UK.

A lot of these universities - Heidelberg, LMU (See below) and the University of Vienna, for example - are offering english speaking masters programmes. (Also Ecole Polytechnique and SciencesPo in Paris)

Does anyone know if they favour native english speakers to such courses? Or is it for german and french speakers to learn english? It would be great to hone a second language!

I'm just trying to grasp if it is a growing trend to pursue masters degrees outside of the UK or is there an effort to get UK students to study out in Europe? This seems so from seeing the tuition fees or.. lack of!!!

An example..

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität-Munchen (in Munich, Germany), a 4 semester (2 year) M.Sc. in Economics for no tuition fee!

As compared to the only 2 year M.Sc. in Economics being at the LSE for £39,000. This is just an extreme case of high fees but most 1 year M.Sc. courses are £10,000.

What is going on? I am right in predicting a mass exodus to these courses in the future?

Additionally the universities I have mentioned are all in incredible surroundings and fascinating history - check out the University of Vienna to know exactly what I mean - it looks like a castle!

Hi. I am currently finishing my Masters in International Relations, which is an English speaking course in Germany.

They won't discriminate because you're a native English-speaker. They'll treat you like any other applicant. If there is some kind of discrimination, it'll be slightly in your favour because the point of the English-speaking courses is to internationalise Germany's tertiary education. The 'internationalisation' factor is one variable in the most prominent uni rankings by Die Zeit,for example.

If the entire course is in English, you will often not be required to have German language skills as a prerequisite for admission. Because this would put off international applicants. Nevertheless, they will definitely encourage you to take German courses, and I recommend you do. You will still need some basic level of German to get around places and also not get too isolated from the native population.

There isn't yet as great an exodus as you might imagine. However, the numbers seeking education in Germany are growing. Precisely because of the increasing fees. I got DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) scholarship and the DAAD basically told me that they were seeing increasing numbers of applications in the past couple of years. I think your competition from UK applicants will be slightly more intense than mine two years ago, but not by a crazy amount.

Anyway, good luck if you do apply. Germany is a fantastic place to study (you'll get perks like a Semester Ticket, which is a student travel pass that lets you use all public transport in the state for free). The quality of life is high, the cost of living relatively low (bar Munich, which is very expensive), the people are friendly and love engaging with a native English speaker, and you'll find that in a uni environment, your profs, your fellow students, and many of the service folk will have some basic English to help you out.

(edited 10 years ago)

Studying MSc in Germany or Austria for no tuition fee

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