Prospective students who, due to flight or as a result of political discrimination, have a residence status according to Appendix 1 of the Resolution of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany (KMK) from 3 December 2015 and who are unable to provide a higher education entrance qualification because they no longer possess the relevant certificates, may alternatively provide proof by taking a placement test. This examination takes place directly at the University of Vechta. It is a subject-specific examination (depending on the degree programme pursued).

The complete documents for the application for admission to the placement test must be submitted by 15 February of the intended year of beginning studies. The examination will then take place around mid-June.

Alternatively, refugees who are unable to provide certificates of their higher education entrance qualification due to flight can obtain the entrance qualification for a chosen field of study at the Studienkolleg by taking an Aufnahmetest (entrance test) and a Feststellungsprüfung (assessment test) at the Niedersächsisches Studienkolleg (preparatory course). In addition, applicants who pass the entrance test with above-average results can directly receive the higher education entrance qualification to a degree programme with free admission.

A prerequisite for all of these procedures is an examination of the requirements with regard to right of residence and a plausibility check of the educational background.

Even if you have the certificates, but only as a non-certified copy, a plausibility check of the educational background and, depending on the documents available, possibly an examination (entrance test at the Studienkolleg or placement test at the University of Vechta) will be necessary.

The described procedures are based on the corresponding KMK Resolution from 3 December 2015: “Hochschulzugang und Hochschulzulassung für Studienbewerberinnen bzw. Studienbewerber, die fluchtbedingt den Nachweis der im Heimatland erworbenen Hochschulzugangsberechtigung nicht erbringen können” (Access and Admission to Institutions of Higher Education for Applicants who are Unable to Provide Evidence of a Higher Education Entrance Qualification Obtained in their Home Country on Account of their Flight).

Please contact us as early as possible before applying, because these procedures take some time.

Additional information for Ukrainians:

For persons who cannot prove their Ukrainian qualifications (e.g. university degrees, vocational qualifications) due to flight, there is currently the possibility, under certain conditions, to obtain an electronic self-disclosure via the website of the state database EDEBO. At the same time, for persons who cannot prove their Ukrainian school-leaving qualifications, it is currently possible, under certain conditions, to obtain the information available in EDEBO on this proof of education from the state enterprise "Inforesurs". Details can be found here (in German, under the items "Einholung einer Selbstauskunft über die Bildungsbiografie" and "Informationsbeschaffung bei fehlenden Nachweisen von Schulabschlüssen (Stamd April 2022)"): https://anabin.kmk.org/no_cache/filter/bildungswesen.html?tab=first&land=37

The University of Vechta offers an alternative to attending the Studienkolleg Hannover to refugees who wish to study at the University of Vechta and who, due to their foreign secondary school certificate, do not have a direct higher education entrance qualification, but do have an entrance qualification to the Studienkolleg.

Prospective students with refugee status who have been admitted to the Studienkolleg can receive an admission to the placement test according to § 10 of the General Examination Regulations. If this placement test is passed, the prospective student can apply or enrol for the degree programme in which the test was taken.

The prerequisite for admission to the placement test is the prior successful completion of (introductory) modules of the desired degree programme, which are determined by the subject-specific academic advisor and the prospective student. The prospective students attend these modules as auditors. Therefore, when selecting the modules, they have to observe the restrictions as per the specifications on academic feasibility of modules and on examinations in auditing studies.

In addition, they should attend a German course at the University of Vechta, in case they cannot yet provide the language certificate required for studying.

Prospective students can usually start this procedure in the winter semester. If they successfully complete the module exams and the placement test, they can submit an application to or enrol at the University of Vechta for the following winter semester.

Prerequisites are a refugee status (regardless of the status of the asylum procedure), a secondary school certificate that entitles the holder to attend Studienkolleg and German language skills at level B2.

If you are interested or have any questions, please contact Dr. Katrin Schumacher in due time before starting the procedure.

Refugees participating in the programme of the “Kiron Open Higher Education GmbH”, who are interested in studying at the University of Vechta, can and have to apply like all prospective students.

Based on the courses offered by Kiron, the following related degree programmes offered at the University of Vechta might be suitable:

• Social Work (Bachelor or Master)
• Social Service Management (Bachelor or Master)
• Business and Ethics: Social Business (in the Bachelor Combined Studies)
• Social Sciences (in the Bachelor Combined Studies)
• Political Science (in the Bachelor Combined Studies)

The complete range of programmes can be found here.

You can apply for recognition of coursework or credits achieved in the Kiron programme.

For modules offered by universities, you have to submit a request for transfer of credits. Information on this request can be found here.

If you have completed modules not offered by a university, you can request recognition of skills acquired outside of higher education for these modules. Information on this request and the contact details of Maria Goldberg can be found here.

Dr. Katrin Schumacher will be happy to answer your questions.

The Network for Traumatised Refugees in Lower Saxony offers free psychological counselling (also for children and teens) in Hanover, Oldenburg and Osnabrück, among other places. Counselling sessions can be held in German, English or (with the support of interpreters) in many other languages.

The Studentenwerk also offers psychosocial counselling, which is open to all students of the University of Vechta.

The International Office regularly informs prospective international students and teachers with and without a refugee background about new offers at the University of Vechta as well as application deadlines.

In addition to prospective students and teachers with and without a refugee background, the free newsletter is also aimed at all interested counselling centres and volunteers.

If you would like to be added to the mailing list to receive the newsletter, please send a short email to Dr Katrin Schumacher (katrin.schumacher@uni-vechta.de).

The International Office raises third-party funds in order to be able to offer these programmes. Information on these programmes can be found here.

The International Office successfully applied for funding for scholarships for Ukrainian students and teachers by the DAAD-programme "Zukunft Ukraine – Stipendienprogramm für Geflüchtete aus der Ukraine an deutschen Hochschulen". Information can be found here (website currently in German only).

The University of Vechta has a long-standing and active partnership with the Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University in Luzk, which includes promoting student and teacher mobility and carrying out joint projects.

The one week training "Reach out!" in June 2024 is aimed at (prospective) teachers (primary and lower secondary) from Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and Germany.

The topics of the training are intercultural education, international networking of schools, racism-critical teaching and democracy education.

The training, organised by the International Office, is supported by the DAAD with funds from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The project "Tandem international - gemeinsam mehr bewegen" (2022-2024) is funded by the DAAD programme "Ostpartnerschaften" ("Eastern Partnerships"). It is implemented by the International Office together with the Ukrainian partner university in Luzk, Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University. The project focuses on intercultural learning and collaborative teaching. In addition to teacher and student mobility, it includes the organisation of a study module "Ukraine: Literary and Intercultural Perspectives" in which students from Luzk and Vechta discuss both current voices in contemporary Ukrainian literature and intercultural issues.

The University of Vechta and the Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University in the Ukrainian city of Luzk have had a partnership for many years. Regular student exchanges and joint projects, among other things, have led to diverse and close contacts. Due to the Russian war against Ukraine, the students and teachers in Luzk are currently facing special challenges. In order to support them, the International Office of Vechta University has acquired third-party funding in the DAAD programme "Ukraine digital: Ensuring academic success in times of crisis", which aims at enabling Ukrainian students to continue their studies.

Within the framework of the project Ukrainian students at the partner university in Luzk receive scholarships. The aim is to contribute to the students' ability to continue and finance their studies despite the war. Many of the students have to compensate for their own loss of income - or that of their parents - and are confronted with rising rents and living costs. The majority of them are also involved in voluntary work, for example in caring for and accommodating Ukrainians who have fled.

Furthermore, teaching assignments for additional online seminars are awarded to lecturers at the University of Luzk in order to strengthen the online teaching offer of the partner university. In addition, workshops for Ukrainian lecturers will be offered which focus on tools and methods of online teaching.

The project is funded by the DAAD with funds from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

The International Office organizes international movie nights (Unikino Vechta) on a regular basis. In the winter semester there was a focus on Ukrainian films. With the support of the Ukrainian Filmfestival Berlin, the following to films were screened on campus: "The Earth is blue as an orange" and "Atlantis" (in Ukrainian with English subtitles). Details can be found here.