Engineering in Germany: affordable and reputed worldwide

Germany is revered for its engineers and engineering courses worldwide. Be it automobiles – the sleek and beautiful BMW, the epitome of luxury Mercedes, the car of the stars Porsche – or Siemens AG’s hearing aids known for their superior technology, or the power tools and accessories of Bosch, German engineers have held their ground almost in all disciplines of engineering, especially Mechanical Engineering. Also the fact that tertiary-level education is quite affordable in Germany, it’s a hot-spot for pursuing further studies in engineering.

In Germany, there are two types of engineering institutions at the tertiary level:

• Universitaeten or Research Universities – They may offer courses in various streams and include universities of technology or technical universities, and
• Fachhochschulen or Universities of Applied Sciences, which are comparatively more recent and do not offer doctoral programmes.

At Universitaeten, focus is on academic and theoretical study of engineering while at Fachhochschulen, the programmes are more oriented towards practical and industry-based training. The latter also focuses on specific engineering specializations.

Besides, Fachhochschulen can only offer diploma programmes which usually take four or five years of study. Universitaeten offers both diploma and degree programmes. Degree programmes may take six to seven years to complete. Know more about German Universities

Most of the courses in Germany are offered in German language but seeing the increasing popularity of international programmes (that are accredited, have a globalised curriculum and offer internationally recognised degrees), more and more engineering programmes in Germany are now being offered in English, especially at the Masters level and above. Read more

German Universities offering engineering discipline that rank in Top 100 Universities in QS World University Rankings 2011 are:

• Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, the oldest German University known for promoting outstanding research work. Ranked #53 in 2011, it has constantly been within top 60 Universities worldwide since 2005.
• Technische Universität München (TUM) is known as the foremost German technical university that offers programmes in engineering, natural sciences, life sciences, medical studies, and economics. It has earned its reputation with six Nobel Prizes and has some of the best German academics and top industry executives among its alumni. Ranked at #4 worldwide in 2011, it has also been a part of the Top 100 Universities in QS World University Rankings since 2005.
• Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) München is one of the leading research universities of Europe. With over 500 years of history and tradition, its main building is world-famous. The high-tech campus of LMU at Großhadern- Martinsried is one-of-a-kind research campus in Europe. It was ranked at #62 last year and has featured in the Top 100 of World University Rankings since 2005.
• Freie Universität Berlin was ranked at #66 last year and is known for its modern and international character. One of the bigger and best universities in Germany, it has been ranked as the second most popular research institution in the country by the international fellows of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

In subject-wise rankings of QS World University Rankings 2011, some of the other German universities have also made their mark in Engineering and Technology. They are:

• Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen 
• Universität Karlsruhe 
• Universität Stuttgart 
• Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin 
• Technische Universität Berlin 
• Technische Universität Darmstadt 
• Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz 

Most of the universities are funded by the government and hence, are quite affordable. In fact, at doctorate level, the education is almost offered free of cost for Indian students. However, there are some private universities that can be more expensive as they do not receive government aids.

Other interesting reads:

-       Types of higher institutions in Germany

-       Education is Germany is much cheaper than other European countries