German universities get more int'l, as Asian students play more important role

Germany is the most popular country for foreign students after the U.S. and the UK,while students from China and India are playing an increasingly important role, said the German Ministry for Education on Wednesday.

Germany belongs to the countries with a large number of internationally mobile students, said the report "Science Weltoffen 2015" presented by the German Ministry for Education (BMBF) with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German Centre for Higher Education and Science Research (DZHW).

With 301,350 the total number of foreign students in Germany in 2014 climbed for the first time over 300,000, which means that almost every tenth student comes from abroad in Germany.

Almost half of the foreign students come from Europe, mostly from Russia, however, the proportion of Asian students increased significantly, said the report.

"The global mobility not only promotes the scientific and cultural exchange, we want to win good professionals for us. We need the best minds from all over to maintain our innovative strength and to master the demographic changes, "said German Education Minister Johanna Wanka.

The massive investments made by German government is one of the reasons why universities in Germany are so attractive. So far, German government has now supported the universities in a third phase of the Higher Education Pact with almost 10 billion euros from 2016 to 2020, according to the German Ministry for Education. Endit