Top courses in Germany: Engineering

Engineering students in India who do not opt to do MBA right after engineering or even after two or three years of work experience, invariably are the ones aspiring to go to Germany for their postgraduate engineering programmes. The intensive research work, invaluable study abroad experience, high-quality education, career and migration possibilities, and low-cost studies are just some of the lures for studying engineering in Germany.

QS World University Rankings 2012 is a testimony to the high quality of education and other student services offered by educational institutions across the world. See where German Universities stand amongst the world's best educational institutions in different engineering streams:

Computer Science Engineering

• Technische Universität München is amongst the Top 50
• Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, and Technische Universität Berlin  are amongst the Top 100
• Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Technische Universität Darmstadt, and Universität Stuttgart are amongst the Top 150
• Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg is amongst the Top 200

IIT Bombay, Delhi, and Kanpur made it to the Top 100 in World University Rankings for the subject. Indian Institute of Science, IIT Kharagpur, and IIT Madras also made it to the Top 150 for the subject.

Chemical Engineering

• Technische Universität München is amongst the Top 50
• Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Technische Universität Berlin, and Universität Stuttgart  are amongst the Top 100
• Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg is amongst the Top 200

IIT Bombay made it to the Top 50 for the subject. IIT Delhi, Kanpur, Kharagpur, and Madras, as well as Indian Institute of Science, ranked among Top 100 in World University Rankings for the subject. IIT Guwahati and IIT Roorkee got placed in the Top 150 for the subject.

Civil Engineering

• Karlsruher Institut für Technologie is amongst the Top 50
• Leibniz Universität Hannover, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Technische Universität München, and Universität Stuttgart are amongst the Top 100
• Technische Universität Dresden is amongst the Top 150
• Ruhr-Universität Bochum is amongst the Top 200

IIT Bombay made it to Top 30 in the list while IIT Kanpur is amongst the Top 50. Indian Institute of Science, IIT Delhi, Kharagpur, Madras, and Roorkee are amongst the Top 100. IIT Guwahati made it to the Top 200 too.

Electrical Engineering

• Technische Universität Berlin, and Technische Universität München rank in the Top 50
• Karlsruher Institut für Technologie and Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen are amongst the Top 100
• Universität Stuttgart is amongst the Top 150
• Technische Universität Dresden is amongst the Top 200

IIT Delhi made it to the Top 30 in the list while IIT Bombay is amongst the Top 50. Indian Institute of Science, IIT Kanpur, Kharagpur, and Madras are amongst the Top 100. IIT Roorkee made it to the Top 200 too.

Mechanical Engineering

• Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen is amongst the Top 30.
• Technische UniversitätMünchen, and Universität Stuttgart are amongst the Top 50
  • Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, Technische Universität Berlin, and Technische Universität Darmstadt are in the Top 100
• Technische Universität Dresden, and Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg  are amongst the Top 150
• Leibniz Universität Hannover is amongst the Top 200

Indian Institute of Science and IIT Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur, and Madras are amongst the Top 100. IIT Kharagpur is amongst the Top 150. IIT Guwahati and the University of Delhi are included in the Top 200.

Noticeably, while Indian institutes have a standing of their own in all other engineering streams, Germany has an upper hand in Mechanical Engineering.

Education costs and living expenses

One of the biggest brownie points for Germany is that the fees of international students in the country are the same as domestic students there, and this includes students from non-European countries. A large number of universities in Germany are funded by the federal government and do not charge any fee. Some of them may charge a minimal fee of about Rs 34,500 per semester. There are private universities in Germany too, which charge as much as Rs 13.8 lakh per academic year.

Besides tuition fee, students also have to pay a semester contribution fee of around Rs 13,800 per semester, which covers charges for ‘Semesterticket’ usable in all modes of public transport in and around the city.

Living expense in Germany is equivalent to the European average. It may vary according to the city one lives in but on an average, international students in Germany spend around Rs 53,000 euros per month with the major expenditure being accommodation charges.

Expert advice

Mamta Khandelwal, Director of Headstart – an ISO 9001:2000 certified education consultancy, is a UK certified agent by British Council and British Deputy High Commission. She has some useful tips and information for study abroad aspirants in India:

• Besides engineering, Germany is also popular for medicine, business, and design programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. We have records for both undergraduate as well as postgraduate students in various fields and the numbers have been increasing day by day. The proportion of student applications to Germany is higher than those for USA, UK, Canada, or Australia.
• Indian students aspiring to go to Germany should be more focused on their conceptual as well as language skills and not just the academic scores. They should take initiative to learn different languages. German, for example, is widely spoken not only in Germany but in entire Europe and has its list of advantages.
• German education system is more practical-oriented, unlike the Indian system which emphasises majorly on theoretical aspects. There are several opportunities available in terms of close industry integrated exposure which is a mandatory part of the syllabus in German Universities – both at the Bachelor’s as well as Master’s levels. This exposure makes students globally acceptable and opens up paths for career progression for them at an early age.
• Germany welcomes all international students. There is no racism in the country. In general, it is considered safer than India.