Incoming Visiting Students

ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) is a standardized system for counting academic credits, which facilitates credit recognition between universities in Europe. ECTS credit points measure the student workload, comprising time spent in class as well as studying outside the classroom (including self-study, groupwork, papers, examinations, internships, etc.)

The German grading system

Grading charts of OS UAS

Visiting students (no dual degree)

All visiting students must compose a learning agreement with the modules they wish to study in Osnabrück. This must be signed by the student, their home university and Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences (OUAS). If an internship is intended, which shall be assessed by our university, the agreement shall also contain information on the planned practical activities.

Specimen of a learning agreement

Visiting students must agree the choice of their subjects or the details of their internship and the number of the ECTS credits to be achieved with their academic coordinators at their home university. The requirements set by them must be met and have priority.

After you have been admitted as a visiting student, please compose a first learning agreement during the below periods. The International Faculty Office (IFO) will send a reminder e-mail with further instructions. The following guidance document explains already what you must consider before making your choice - please read it carefully: Guidance for composing the learning agreement

Erasmus+ students: We have two universities in Osnabrück. If you compose a digital learning agreement, please make sure to choose the right university, otherwise your choice of modules will not reach us:
>> Select: D  OSNABRU02 - Hochschule (or Fachhochschule) Osnabrück

Dual degree students, who want to attain a dual degree from our university, shall compose their learning agreements with the help of the coordinators of their degree program - contact details: Handbook for international students: see "International course coordinators at our Faculty".

Periods for composing the learning agreement

First learning agreement before the mobility (first selection of modules)
Winter semester (September to February): June 1 to 15
Summer semester (March to August): November 15 to 30

Final learning agreement during the mobility (confirmation or change of first choice)
Winter semester: October 5 to 20
Summer semester: March 15 to 30

Online registration for modules on the Intranet of OUAS

Students must register online for their courses within the Intranet of our university at the start of the semester. Detailed information and instructions will be e-mailed by the International Faculty Office before this process starts.

The final semester timetables with the modules of all degree programs offered at our Faculty will only be published shortly before the semester begins. These contain detailed information on the single modules, e. g. the lecture venues and times as well as the names of the teachers.

Exchange students and free movers will be enrolled in one of the regular degree programs at the Faculty of Business Management and Social Sciences (WiSo). You may however choose modules from different Bachelor/Master programs and semesters and combine these with language courses. Therefore, you will compose your individual timetable on your own at the beginnning of the semester. That means you will not get completed schedules from the International Faculty Office.

Examinations and examination results

Students can find detailed information on the examinations and the examination results on the Intranet.

Retake of examinations

Failed examinations can be repeated at our Faculty only during the examination period of the next semester. Even if a module is not held in the following term, there will be a retake examination.

Visiting students can possibly resit for failed examinations even if they have already returned to their home countries. In any case, the exam must be taken on the same day and at the same time, either in Osnabrück or at your home university. You must only come to the examinations at our Faculty if the distance between Germany and your home country is not too far.

First please clarify with your university if a retake of examinations at OUAS is really necessary, if our retake period is not too late for them or if there are alternative solutions at your school. If you decide for a resit of our exams, ask your international coordinators if they agree to exchange the examination papers by e-mail and if they can invigilate the examinations for us. The International Faculty Office needs this confirmation and the proctor's contact details from your university.

Afterwards, the International Faculty Office will ask the OUAS teachers concerned for their permission that you may resit for the written parts of the examinations at your home university. Should the time difference be too big, for example, the teachers can refuse to give their consent. If they give their OK, we will inform you and clear the further steps with you and your university. We will obtain the examination papers from the teachers only shortly before the days of the examinations, but of course we will e-mail them to your proctor in due time.

For the retakes, you must be re-enrolled at our university and pay the semester fee. Please submit a new certificate of enrollment to the International Faculty Office, latest by the end of the registration period for the examinations (see academic calendars): Certificate of enrollment as MS Word format

Moreover, the following points have to be taken into account:

• The teachers, the contents and the examination type of the modules that you have initially attended and failed, can differ in the following semester.
   
• The teachers of the firstly attended modules do not offer retakes or extra examinations in the examination period of the next term if the modules are taught by other teachers during the following term.
  
  We suggest to ask your former teachers if they hold the lecture in the successional term again and thus offer a retake examination themselves. If they don't, contact the teachers of the next term and ask for the contents or lecture scripts or any other assistance so that you can compare the contents and best prepare for the resit. The contact details can be provided by the International Faculty Office.
  
  If an assignment, a presentation or a mid-term examination had been additional examination performances of the failed module, these must be repeated, too, even if you passed these already in your first attempt. The details need to be cleared with the teachers.
   
• The retake dates cannot be chosen by you. Day and time are fixed by our Faculty. If you write the exam at your home university, you must take it on the same day and at the same time as in Osnabrück.
   
• The examination regulations of our Faculty do not allow a retake of passed examinations to improve the grades.

Should anything be unclear, please contact your IFO coordinator: Contact International Faculty Office

Final certificates

The final certificates for visiting and dual degree students will be issued automatically by the Registrar's Office of our university and posted to your home university once all the examination results are on hand, at the earliest in

• March after the winter semester
• September after the summer semester

The International Faculty Office has no access to the examination results and cannot accelerate the transcript process.

Your final certificate will contain the grades and ECTS credit points for all passed and failed modules for which you have completed the required examinations. It is not possible to omit failed examinations in your final transcript. OUAS can only certify performances for the modules that have been specified in the official course catalog of the respective semester, which have been stipulated in the learning agreement and for the exams of which you have duly registered.

Specimen of a study abroad certificate

The German grading system

In the certificates, OUAS gives

• local grades or only a "pass" or "fail" for ungraded subjects
• ECTS credit points, except for a few preparatory/basic courses
• ECTS percentages

in accordance with the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS). We do neither assign ECTS grades from A to F nor determine any other ranking of the examination results. Further explanations of the grades can be found on the central page for visiting students: The German grading system

For a better transfer of the grades you attained at OUAS, the coordinators of your university can additionally have a look at the following PDF charts: Grading charts of OUAS

Grades for ungraded subjects

A few subjects are not graded at our Faculty and assessed with credits and "pass/fail" only. Should you definitely require grades for all your modules in your final transcript to get the full recognition through your home university, please ask your teachers if they can give you a grade for their usually ungraded class. Clear this immediately at the start of the lecture period, however by all means BEFORE the examinations begin. After the examination period has started, the Registrar's Office will not comply with your wish for an extra grade anymore, and only the regular assessments will be entered in your final transcript.

Grade reports for the recognition of your examination performances

If you need, besides the regular assessments at OUAS, additional overviews of the examination results with average grades and failure rates for the recognition by your home university, you will find grade reports on the Intranet: click "eCampus > Study Service > Registrar’s Office > “Notenspiegel”.

German courses offered by CIM and CIS

The results of the International Winter/Summer Language School German offered by the Center for International Mobility (CIM) will be transmitted automatically to the Registrar's Office and, if possible, included in the final study abroad certificate.

Exception: You have studied a German course with the same level during the following semester. In this case, only one German course will be certified in the transcript.

Current status of the examination results and intermediate transcripts

To get the current status of your examination results and provided that you are still enrolled and have access, you can check these yourself on the Intranet: click "eCampus > Study Service > Registrar’s Office > “Notenspiegel”. Or directly address to:

Ina Müller-Schlicht
Registrar's Office
i.mueller-schlicht@hs-osnabrueck.de
Phone: (05 41) 9 69-31 42

Students who study at OUAS for more than one semester, will get an official final certificate only after their stay. In case an intermediate transcript is required, you can generate a PDF transcript by yourself from the Intranet: click "eCampus > Study Service > Selfservice documents > Performance list". Alternatively, contact the Registrar's Office.

Bachelor exchange students from our partner universities, with which we have concluded corresponding Erasmus agreements, can do an internship in the above-mentioned study areas in Osnabrück. The internship places are arranged by the Faculty of Business Management and Social Sciences (WiSo) with the collaborating practice institutions. With the confirmation of your acceptance, the International Faculty Office will give you the contact details of the responsible coordinators to clarify the details and the further procedure of the internship. Besides the practical work, you can or in some cases must study one additional module at our faculty, e. g. a language course in German or English or a study-related subject.

Be aware that you can be enrolled as a visiting student, get a student ID card and the public transportation ticket only if you stay in Germany for minimally three months. For this purpose, you must apply for the admission as a visiting student.

The minimum period for an Erasmus internship is two months. Under the heading “Short-term internships without enrollment”, you can read which services we offer to students who want to stay with us for less than three months. 

Language requirements for Erasmus Plus internships

1. Bachelor exchange students - Nursing

• English: minimal B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)
• German: minimal B1 for the internship - B2 for studying the regular nursing modules at our faculty

2. Bachelor exchange students - Midwifery, Social Work

• German: minimal B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)
• An internship in English in these fields of activity cannot be arranged at the moment.
• Participation in the International Language School German prior to the start of the internship (strongly recommended)
• Semester language course in German at our Faculty (strongly recommended)

3. Bachelor exchange students - Occupational Therapy

• English: minimal B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)
• German: minimal B1

For all internships, previous knowledge of German is required as you often have to communicate in German with the patients or customers in the practice institutions. Otherwise, the fields of activity would be very limited. Therefore, we strongly recommend, if possible, to attend also the below German language courses:

• Participation in the International Language School German prior to the start of the internship
• Semester language course in German at our university

All visiting students can plan a study and internship stay over two semesters in Germany: In the first semester of your one-year stay, you can study at our Faculty, and in the second term, you can do an internship in a company, institution or organization. The enrollment for the first and second semester will be realized by the International Faculty Office after you have applied for a study place as a visiting student.

A mere internship stay without a previous study semester at our university is not possible, only within a few stipulated exchange programs. Since we currently do not have any cooperation partners for e. g. business-related internships, these must be fully arranged by yourself without our support. That means you must find a company or institution that is willing to take you as an intern and clear all the required formalities for the internship on your own. OUAS cannot give ECTS credits or issue certifications for these internships as they are not part of our syllabi and cannot be guided academically. We can only offer to enroll you. The internship does not necessarily have to be in our town, but definitely in Germany.

Students who are already in Osnabrück can get advice for searching an internship place and for preparing the application documents from the Career Services (in German) within the Learning Center of OS UAS. They also run the Internship and Job Portal "Praxiko" (in German). Best first see over the portal together with your buddy before you arrange an appointment via learningcenter@hs-osnabrueck.de to clear any queries.

Other good options to find internship places are:

• Chance Career Fair (in German) – held at our university every autumn
• sneep Stellenbörse (in German) – Student Network for Ethics and Economics in Practice

A list of internationally operating companies in our town/region is available in our handbook for international students.

Bachelor exchange students from partner universities can also come to Germany to do an internship for less than three months. An internship place, academic guidance and a final certificate can be arranged by our university only with our cooperating practice institutions and within the stipulated exchange programs (e. g. Erasmus).

Even though you can neither be enrolled at our university nor obtain a student ID card, we can offer you the following services instead (in Osnabrück only, not in other towns): access to student canteens, library and university computers, authorization card for buying reduced student bus tickets, possibly an accommodation via our Housing Service (subject to free rooms).

For this purpose, our International Faculty Office will need your full name, e-mail address and date of birth. Get in touch with our housing service (housing@hs-osnabrueck.de) not later than two months before your internship starts. You can also find yourself a private accommodation. There are tips on this in our handbook for international students - see "Accommodation alternatives".

Maybe our short-term summer and winter programs could be of interest to you, too?

As a student of University of Florida (Warrington College of Business Administration) and University of Southern Indiana, U.S.A., you may do a combined study and internship semester in Osnabrück. That means you can gain practical experiences in a local company and study a few modules at our Faculty, all in one semester. You must have a good command of German and will be selected and nominated for this special program by your home university. Afterwards you must apply at our Faculty to become a visiting student. The internship will be arranged and guided by the responsible academic coordinator of OS UAS. Further details on this exchange program can be given by your home university.

Students from the U.S.A., Canada and Brazil can apply for the UAS7 Study and Internship Programs to be sponsored by a scholarship of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) or by a travel grant. After you have received the confirmation for one of these exchange programs, you must additionally apply for a study place as a visiting student at our Faculty.

For nearly all of the above internship options, you must be enrolled at a university outside Germany during the whole period of your stay. And you must apply online for admission with our International Faculty Office: Online registration as visiting student

We cannot offer academic guidance or a written confirmation for any internship performances beyond the stated exchange programs. You are advised to ask your internship company for a final certification instead.

A minimum wage for your internship must be paid to you and you require a work permit from the Citizen Center Osnabrück when your internship shall last more than three months and if it is not an obligatory part of your degree program at your home university. Ask your home university if they can confirm a compulsory internship as this will increase your chances to find a place, even if you might not receive a remuneration in that case.

Moreover, please ask your health insurance company in what way your insurance cover might be affected by taking up a job/internship.

Further information:

Central pages for visiting students - legal conditions: Working / internships
Student Services of Germany (Deutsches Studentenwerk): Information for international students - Jobbing
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD): Work placements