Freemover

In principle, any student can apply for a study place at an accredited foreign university - anywhere in the world. Whether as a guest/visiting student for 1 or 2 semesters or as a degree seeking/international student with the aim of obtaining a foreign degree. This approach makes sense if you want to be completely independent, if your wishes are not covered by existing exchange programs or if you have not been accepted onto a corresponding program.

Going abroad as a so-called "freemover" has advantages and disadvantages: On the one hand, you can apply directly to your "university of choice", even if there is no cooperation agreement with your home university. You often need less lead time than if you apply via an exchange programme. On the other hand, a "freemover" stay requires a high degree of initiative and additional organisational effort on your part. Higher demands are often placed on your performance and language level. Financing is another obstacle, as tuition fees and other costs are usually incurred. However, these can often be at least partially financed by BAföG/student finance services abroad or scholarships.

When organising your stay abroad independently, it is important to contact the potential host university in good time to find out about application deadlines and formalities. You should start planning 12-18 months before your intended stay abroad. As each university has its own admission requirements and application procedures, it is necessary to obtain comprehensive information from the homepages of your chosen universities and/or contact their international offices. If you fulfil the requirements, you can apply directly to the foreign university as a visiting student - depending on the university, this is called:
as a "visiting student", "study abroad student", "non-degree student" or simply "free mover".

You can find the addresses of foreign universities, study programs and admission requirements as well as information on the cost of living etc. in the DAAD's country information.

You can find out whether a higher education institution is accredited or not on the pages of the "anabin" database, an information portal for the recognition of foreign educational qualifications.

There are also free placement agencies that can help you find a place to study.

Various agencies, so-called recruiters, work together with certain foreign universities and arrange study places with them. These "education agents" offer free information, counselling and placement services for various countries for students who would like to complete a full or partial course of study abroad "on their own initiative". However, even if you do not want to use placement services, it is worth taking a look at the homepage of a placement agency, as these sites often provide information material on the higher education system and visa matters in the destination country.

Some agencies:

AIFS (USA, Australia, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Bali, England, Ireland):www.aifs.de

Institut Ranke-Heinemann (Australia, New Zealand, Canada):www.ranke-heinemann.de
Students at universities who have organised their stay through the Institut Ranke-Heinemann are guaranteed to receive the "Down Under Study Grant", which covers 10% of the tuition fees.

GOstralia (Australia): www.gostralia-gozealand.de
GOzealand (New Zealand): www.gostralia-gozealand.de

GOmerica (USA):

IEC (USA, Australia, New Zealand, China, Singapore): www.ieconline.de
Students who successfully enrol at certain universities via IEC can also apply for the IEC Ambassador Scholarship.
The scholarship amounts to 700 EUR.
College Contact (mainly USA, Canada, Asia): www.college-contact.com
Every year, College Contact awards 10 subject-related partial scholarships worth EUR 1,000 each for semesters abroad to students who organise their semester abroad as a "free mover" via College Contact.
magoo: www.auslandsstudium.magoo-international.com
Asia Exchange: www.asiaexchange.org/de