Higher education ranking
- Higher education rankings show institutions' specialist fields and, primarily, indicate how students and lecturers rate German institutions in particular areas: This means that an institution can have excellent ratings in some areas and score much worse in others.
- Our tip: Rankings can provide an initial impression, but we recommend finding out as much as you can about the institution of your choice yourself.
- Rankings by the Centrum für Hochschulentwicklung (CHE)
The CHE higher education ranking, which appeared for the first time in 1998 and is published in co-operation with weekly newspaper "Die Zeit", currently provides the most detailed ranking of German universities and universities of applied sciences. It includes a total of 35 subjects, covering more than three quarters of all new students. As well as facts about courses, teaching, facilities and research, the ranking includes assessments by more than 250,000 students about studying conditions at their institution and the reputation of the departments among lecturers in individual subjects.
- The English version of the CHE ranking can be found on the DAAD website: University Ranking.
- Spiegel ranking
The main criterion in the current higher education ranking published by "Spiegel" magazine is the qualification profile of students: "Where do the cleverest study?" They assess data for around 50,000 students. This includes results in entrance qualifications (Abitur) and examinations, duration of study, placements and international residence, professional experience, IT and language skills (self assessment) and involvement in activities outside of studies. The analysis is carried out in conjunction with AOL and McKinsey. It can be downloaded for a fee.
- Focus ranking
The current ranking by "Focus" magazine covers a total of 20 subjects. A cluster analysis is used to calculate the 10 top universities in Germany. The aim is to identify the best research universities. This ranking does not include a student perspective. The downloads have to be paid for.
- With its Humboldt ranking, the Alexander von Humboldt Trust (AvH) records the research placements of all of its international scholarship holders and prize winners in Germany. It shows which research institutions have a large number of international contacts and are particularly attractive to international academics.
