WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Germany attracted 246,000 international students in 2007, outranked only by the United States (590,200) and Great Britain (318,400), according to the 2008 edition of the survey "Wissenschaft - weltoffen," co-edited by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
In 2007, 12.5 percent of all university students in Germany came from abroad. Almost a third (32 percent) of the foreign students registered at a German university is of Chinese origin, closely followed by students from Eastern European countries (31 percent), mainly Bulgarians and Poles. The survey on the internationalization of German universities shows that the number of foreign students holding a German university degree has doubled over the last seven years, proving the high quality of education and academic advising at German higher education institutions. The survey, "also found an increase of foreign female students studying in Germany, as well as an increasing interest in German universities by foreign-born engineering students.
Attending a university as a young adult is an increasingly international experience. With 2.72 million students worldwide registered at universities that are not in the students' countries of origin, university campuses and student experiences are marked by an increasing internationalization.
German students are well in that trend and beyond. In 2005, 4 percent or 75,800 German students went abroad in order to get an academic degree from a foreign institution. This is a higher percentage than other countries comparable to Germany. At the undergraduate level, an impressive 23 percent of German students go abroad for study-related reasons, such as internships or course work.
The survey also examined German universities with regard to their popularity among researchers and scholars from foreign countries. Foreigners currently constitute about 10 percent of the academic and artistic staff at higher education institutions. Most of the visiting academics come from mathematics, engineering and natural science, subjects, which are also the focus of almost half of the foreign doctoral candidates. These numbers demonstrate the attractiveness of Germany not only in terms of quality of life and richness in history and culture but also in terms of strength in research, technology and science education.
Source: http://www.wissenschaft-weltoffen.de/ (with information and data available also in English)
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