Category: General

In 2026, North Rhine-Westphalia will face a serious drop in the number of upper secondary school graduates: 40,000 fewer than usual - almost minus 60% of the usual flow. The situation is similar in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, where the number of applicants is also predicted to drop significantly. The reason is simple: both states are switching from a 12-year to a 13-year school system. A similar reform took place last year in Bavaria - at that time, the upper secondary schools produced 26,000 fewer graduates than in previous years.

What does this mean for enrollees?

Due to the sharp decline in the number of applicants, many universities are already announcing plans to cancel the competition (NC) in a number of areas and significantly simplify admission.

Tip from UniApply Germany:

Take a closer look at universities in North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein - in 2026 there may be particularly good chances of admission even for popular majors.

A plus for those seeking dual education: Fewer graduates - higher demand from companies. This can be a real advantage for applicants planning to enroll in dual programs.

Starting November 3, 2025, the Fintiba service, the most popular way to open a blockchain account in Germany, will change its fees:

• account opening 159 €
• monthly fee 9,90 €

If you're opened the account before that date, the old conditions will remain: 89 € per opening and 4,90 € per month.

Why choose Fintiba:

• the best and most convenient solution on the market
• the only option suitable for undergraduate minors.

✉️FINTIBA

In our recent webinar, there were a lot of questions about which programs in Germany are the most prestigious and where to apply to find a good job.

It's important to remember: high competition for admission doesn't always mean better prospects after graduation.
Often the opposite is true - some less «high-profile» fields offer excellent career opportunities and high income.

The exception is medicine. Here the high competition is really justified: both in terms of the complexity of enrollment and the level of salaries.

To show the real picture, here's Absolventa's data on who earns the most after university in Germany:

Average starting salary by destination:

• Medicine - 58,829 €
• Business Engineering (Wirtschaftsingenieurwesen) - 55,517 €
• Natural Sciences - 55,504 €
• Business Informatics (Wirtschaftsinformatik) - 54 851 €
• Law - 54,105 €
• Informatics - 53 601 €
• Engineering - 53,108 €
• Economics and Management - 52,343 €
• Pharmaceuticals - 44,838 €
• Agrarian and Environmental Sciences - 42,971 €

Entering dentistry in Germany is always an extreme challenge. Imagine: just 75 seats for international students across the country!

Our student managed to get in without the coveted 1.0 grade - she had a 1.1, which is cool in itself, but usually not enough.

How did we do it?
We chose only 5 universities. Why so few? Because we have a precise understanding of the selection criteria:

• certificate requirements,
• C2 certificate bonuses,
• TestAS results.

This allowed us to bet on specific universities and... guess what!

Our student will begin her dental studies at Rostock University in the new semester!

Sometimes it seems like a miracle, but it's actually the result of strategy, knowledge, and proper preparation.

Admission to the Stüdienkolleg

University enrollment

Language courses in Germany

On airing on Instagram With a representative of BARMER, we discussed in detail what types of health insurance there are and how they differ. We are sharing the outline:

Private travel insurance. Covers insured events that occur during the insurance period. No additional insurance is required for entry.
Fits:

• language students
• to the students of the Stüdienkolleg
• students over 30

Popular choices:

Care Concept

Mawista

DR-WALTER

Government Insurance (GKV). Required for enrollment. The insurance office will send notification to the university itself when you enroll. You can apply directly or through brokers. We recommend sending the application through providers rather than directly to the insurance office so that it goes straight to the international department and there are no questions or misunderstandings.
Fits:

• university students under 30 years of age

Popular Companies:

DAK

BARMER

Packages with blockchain and insurance. With most blockchain providers, you can sign up for the full package:
Payment of insurance after arrival (automatic debit).
Examples:

Fintiba + BARMER

Care Concept + DAK

Expatrio + TK

Important to know!
Students can opt out of mandatory insurance if there is a policy with equal coverage. But:
The refusal is irreversible, and it is possible to return to state insurance only by starting to work under an employment contract with compulsory social insurance.

We are actively applying for visas and are happy with the speed. Almost everywhere the process goes very quickly. We are sharing the latest statistics on visa processing times:

• Russia - all our submissions (including language course visa) come in about 10 days with a full set of documents
• Kazakhstan - 2-4 weeks
• Moldova (submission from a student from Ukraine) - 4 days
• Hungary (student from Ukraine) - one week
• Azerbaijan - 1 to 3 weeks
• Uzbekistan - 1-1.5 months. It is still the most unpredictable consulate here, a roller coaster every time

Visa support

And if you want to start your journey in Germany with language courses, we will arrange your visa free of charge when you choose one of our partner schools

Read More

6 days intensive preparation course for the entrance exam for the T, M and W courses of the Stüdienkolleg.

Why our course?

• The course syllabus was developed by the Stüdienkolleg math teacher for UniApply Germany
• Each semester we adapt the level of difficulty of the assignments
• Classes in small groups and entirely in German
• The most important topics of the entrance exams

When will the course be held?

• July 7 through July 18.

Who's teaching?

• Hannah is a master's student with four years of experience teaching math and computer science as part of university supplemental classes.

Entry to medicine in Germany is one of the most competitive: high GPA, C2 language, excellent TestAS scores (in some universities it affects the up to 49% decisions), and a huge competition for a seat.

But if you don't pass, it's not the end. There are many alternative paths that involve medicine, science, and health care:

• Biochemistry
• Molecular medicine
• Psychology
• Medical Biology
• Pharmacy
• Biology
• Agriculture (with a focus on agro- and biotechnology)
• Bioinformatics
• Food chemistry
• Biotechnology

These specialties are in demand, interesting and offer career prospects in research institutes, laboratories, pharmaceutical companies and other related fields.

 Not sure what to choose? As part of our support, we will help you assess your chances, select the best universities and develop a personalized admission strategy.

National visa in Moscow

The visa was issued in 7 working days after submitting the documents. We had prepared a complete and competently executed package. But, as often happens, the staff of Visametrics wanted to make their own "corrections" and came up with a new vision of a blockchain for applicants.

Important: always check exactly what the paperwork states to avoid surprises.

Bottom line: the visa was approved on the originally submitted package, with no adjustments or additions.

Student residence permit in Germany, entry from Ukraine without a visa

A student entered Germany in the second half of March. She rented temporary accommodation for 2 weeks, during this time a permanent residence was successfully found and a propiska was made. Immediately after we submitted the full package of documents to the migration service, we did not forget to attach a reference to the documents that confirm the right to visa-free entry for long-term stay (yes, yes, there were cases when the Abkhaz simply did not know about it and turned the students around).

After only 2 weeks, I got a reply. We were given a date to submit the prints and pay the fee. On Monday our student received her student residence permit for 2 years.

The work permit is directly related to the paragraph of the Residence Act under which you are granted a visa or residence permit.

University, Stüdienkolleg and language courses as part of pre-university training (§16b AufenthG)

• You are allowed to work up to 140 days per calendar year.
• Work under university structures, e.g. as a research assistant (HiWi) is not counted in this limit.
• Counting workdays under two models: 8 hours - full-time (4 hours - half-time) OR 2.5 days for a 20-hour workweek.
• Working up to 40 hours per week during semester breaks counts as 2.5 days.

! Don't confuse work authorization with a limit of 20 hours per week during the semester and 40 hours per week during vacations - these are restrictions related to Social Security and the ability to stay on a student's health insurance plan.

Isolated language course (§16f AufenthG)

• You are allowed to work up to 20 hours per week during the course.

Applicants - usually students with an invitation to take the entrance exam (§17 AufenthG) are granted this visa.

• Authorized to work up to 20 hours per week.