FAQ – Preparatory German Courses

Courses take place in blended format, which means that they are partly taught online and partly face-to-face on Bielefeld Campus.

To participate in the courses, you must live in the region and be able to take part in face-to-face classes in Bielefeld regularly.

Yes. There will be a certain quota of participants in the programme who have not experienced displacement who can attend the courses.

• Access to the Internet
• A laptop/computer that is Internet-ready (you cannot participate via smartphone)
• A camera
• A microphone

Yes. Classes take place daily from Monday to Friday.

Classes usually take place in the mornings. We will announce the exact times at the welcome event.

Levels B1 and B2 end with an internal university exam at the respective CEFR level. Level C1 ends with the official telc C1 university examination.

You will not have to pay course fees if you attend our courses. They are financed through funds from the Ministry of Culture and Science (MKW).
However, to participate in the courses, you must enrol at our university as a language course student. Once you have enrolled, you will have to pay the semester contribution (https://www.hsbi.de/studium/semesterbeitrag [German]).

Yes. You must pay the semester contribution. However, you can ask the welfare services that provide for you (Jobcenter/Federal Employment Agency/Social Welfare Office) whether they can cover the costs.

No. The semester contribution must be paid as a whole before the course starts.

No. You cannot obtain a bachelor’s or master’s degree. You will be enrolled in the subject “German” as a language course student. In order to obtain a degree, you must enrol in specialist studies.

Please send us an e-mail at refugee@hsbi.de and let us know.

Yes. Please send us an e-mail at refugee@hsbi.de as soon as possible, but by the start of the course at the latest. Reimbursement of the semester contribution after the course has started is not possible.

Unfortunately, you cannot. You can only apply for a place until the application deadline. Please send us an e-mail at refugee@hsbi.de and we may be able to put you on a waiting list.

Your chances do not depend on when you apply. All complete applications received by the end of the application deadline will be considered. However, we do recommend you apply early.

If your application documents are complete and fulfill all requirements, you have a good chance of getting a place. However, in some semesters, we may have to reject some applications due to the limited number of places in our courses.

The selection is made after the application deadline. You will thus be informed approximately three weeks after the end of the application period.

If you are still waiting for documents at the time of your application, please let us know. Please note, however, that complete applications are given priority.

Please upload the document in the original language. However, try to have it translated quickly so that you can submit the document right away.

Yes. You can also apply for a place in the preparatory German course from abroad. HOWEVER, PLEASE NOTE: You must be in Germany by the beginning of the course. There is no way you can attend classes from abroad (and you have to provide proof of your health insurance and residence permit).

Please upload your current residence permit. As soon as you have a new residence permit, please send it to us by e-mail at refugee@hsbi.de.

Please make a statement on your current German skills. Since when have you been learning German? Where and when have you been learning German?

Please upload this statement as a PDF file.

Please check the German Academic Exchange Service's database on admission requirements: https://www.daad.de/en/study-and-research-in-germany/plan-your-studies/admission-database/

Explain your study interests on approx. ½ page. What would you like to study at HSBI after the German course? Why have you chosen this subject?
You can write your letter of motivation in German or English.