University of Freiburg
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
Founded in 1457 by the Black Forest, with 23 associated Nobel laureates and an English-taught liberal arts college.
- Students
- 24,422
- International
- 18%
- of students
- Tuition
- €3,000
- 2026-27
- Founded
- 1457
About Uni Freiburg
The University of Freiburg was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg archduke Albert VI and is one of the oldest universities in Germany. Today it has about 24,500 students and 4,745 doctoral candidates in eleven faculties, from theology and law to medicine, engineering and environment and natural resources, offering around 240 degree programmes. About 18% of students are international.
Freiburg is known for its research in the life sciences, medicine, philosophy and sustainability. Its Cluster of Excellence CIBSS (biological signalling) has been funded for another seven years, and a new Cluster of Excellence, Future Forests, started in January 2026. Freiburg submitted a proposal in November 2025 for the title of University of Excellence; the decision is due to be announced on 2 October 2026 and had not been announced when this profile was checked on 29 September 2026. Twenty-three Nobel laureates are associated with the university, and the philosophers Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger taught here.
Almost all bachelor's and state examination programmes are taught in German, so most international undergraduates need C1-level German. The exception is University College Freiburg's English-taught Liberal Arts and Sciences bachelor's, which admits about 80 students a year. Like all universities in Baden-Württemberg, Freiburg charges non-EU students €1,500 per semester in tuition on top of the semester fee.
Die Wahrheit wird euch frei machen
“The truth will set you free” — university motto
Why students choose Uni Freiburg
A four-year, English-taught Liberal Arts and Sciences bachelor's at University College Freiburg, with majors in Culture and History, Governance, Life Sciences, or Environmental and Sustainability Sciences.
Low costs: EU/EEA students pay only a €190 semester fee, and non-EU students add €1,500 per semester.
Two Clusters of Excellence from 2026, CIBSS and Future Forests, plus a Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources and more than 50 professorships with a sustainability focus.
Membership of Eucor – The European Campus and the EPICUR alliance links Freiburg with partner universities across Europe.
Admissions
Winter semester 2027/28 entry (dates follow Freiburg's standing pattern; 2026 dates shown where 2027 dates are not yet published)
Selectivity
Freiburg publishes no overall admission rate. Many programmes are open admission; programmes with restricted admission (numerus clausus) rank applicants, and non-EU international applicants compete for a quota of 8% of places (5% in Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy). The LAS programme is selective, with an annual intake of about 80.
Typical entry requirements
| German Abitur or EU school-leaving certificate | Direct university entrance; restricted-admission programmes rank applicants by grade |
|---|---|
| International school-leaving certificate | Must be recognised as equivalent to the Abitur (check anabin, including the IB rules). Otherwise, prior university study abroad or the one-year Studienkolleg in Heidelberg and the assessment examination (Feststellungsprüfung) are needed |
| Liberal Arts and Sciences (English-taught) | Recognised university entrance qualification, English at B2 level or higher, a 500-word application essay and a 500-word letter of motivation |
| English language | German-taught bachelor's and state examination programmes need C1-level German: DSH 2 or 3, TestDaF 4 or 5 in all four parts, Goethe Certificate C2, DSD II (4xC1 or 3xC1 and 1xB2) or telc Deutsch C1 Hochschule. For open-admission programmes you can apply with DSH 1, TestDaF 3 or a C1 course and show C1 by enrolment; Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy and restricted programmes need C1 at application. The English-taught LAS programme requires English at B2, e.g. IELTS Academic 5.5-6.5 or TOEFL iBT 72-94 per Freiburg's B2 list. |
Deadlines
- Restricted-admission (NC) bachelor's programmes, including LAS Non-binding Next deadline · In ~9 months15 July 2027 (expected)
Application window 1 June to 15 July. This is a cut-off date: documents must be received by then.
- Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy (non-EU applicants without German entrance qualification) Non-binding In ~9 months15 July 2027 (expected)
Applied 1 June to 15 July 2026 for the 2026/27 winter semester, via the Freiburg portal; C1 German required at application.
- Studienkolleg / assessment examination Non-binding In ~9 months15 July 2027 (expected)
Apply for the degree 'Assessment Examination' in the Freiburg portal from 1 June to 15 July (winter) or 1 December to 15 January (summer); the course takes place at the Studienkolleg in Heidelberg.
- Open-admission bachelor's programmes Non-bindingEarly October 2027 (8 October in 2026)
For winter semester 2026/27 the window was 1 June to 8 October 2026. Non-EU applicants should apply much earlier to leave time for a visa.
Freiburg's published table covers winter semester 2026/27 (restricted programmes 1 June to 15 July 2026; open-admission programmes 1 June to 8 October 2026). Its pages state standing windows of 1 June to 15 July for the Studienkolleg and LAS; the 2027 dates above assume the same pattern and should be checked when the 2027/28 table is published.
How to apply
Apply directly in the University of Freiburg's online application portal (not uni-assist), which opens on 1 June for the winter semester. Upload your documents; applicants with restricted-admission programmes can submit at most three applications. Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy applicants without German entrance qualifications from outside the EU also apply through the Freiburg portal, while other applicants use hochschulstart.de. LAS applicants register on hochschulstart.de (DoSV) first and then apply through the Freiburg portal.
What admissions looks for
- A school-leaving certificate recognised as equivalent to the German Abitur, or a passed assessment examination after the Studienkolleg.
- German at C1 level (DSH 2 or TestDaF 4 in all parts) for German-taught degrees.
- For restricted programmes, strong grades, since places are ranked and non-EU applicants compete for an 8% quota.
- For LAS, independent, clearly structured argument in the essay and a convincing account of your study interests in the letter of motivation.
Tips for applying to Uni Freiburg
- 1 Check anabin before applying: Freiburg cannot assess your certificate until you submit a full application.
- 2 Do a study orientation test (Freiburg recommends TestAS for international applicants) and include the confirmation, as it is compulsory.
- 3 For LAS, keep the essay and motivation letter under 500 words each; overlong texts can disqualify your application.
- 4 Budget for €1,690 per semester if you are a non-EU student (€1,500 tuition plus the €190 semester fee), and check whether you qualify for an exemption.
- 5 Apply for a visa as soon as you are admitted; Freiburg gives admitted students free access to the VisaFlow relocation app.
Costs & financial aid
2026-27 · figures in EUR
Freiburg does not offer scholarships specifically for international students (for example to cover tuition), and points them to the DAAD scholarship database and foundations. Some groups are exempt from the international tuition fee, including students with a German entrance qualification not obtained at a Studienkolleg and those with certain residence permits. Through the Deutschlandstipendium, Freiburg provides students with €300 in funding, half from the federal government and half from private donors.
- €190 (Studierendenwerk €103, administrative fee €80, student union €7)
- Semester fee
- €1,500 per semester
- Tuition fee for non-EU international students
- €650 per semester
- Second-degree fee
- €300 in funding (half federal, half private donors)
- Deutschlandstipendium
Academics
Academic calendar: Semesters (winter and summer)
Liberal Arts and Sciences (BA/BSc)
Freiburg's only English-taught undergraduate degree: four years, 240 ECTS, about 80 students a year, taught at University College Freiburg.
Medicine (state examination)
The Faculty of Medicine is Freiburg's largest, with 4,864 students in 2024/25; non-EU applicants apply directly to Freiburg with C1 German and compete for a 5% quota.
Forestry and environmental sciences
The Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources hosts the new Future Forests Cluster of Excellence (from 2026), led by Highly Cited Researcher Jürgen Bauhus.
Biology and biochemistry
Backed by the CIBSS Cluster of Excellence on biological signalling, renewed for seven years from 2026.
Engineering (Computer Science, Microsystems Engineering, Sustainable Systems Engineering)
The Faculty of Engineering has the university's highest share of international students (1,007 of 2,620 in 2024/25).
Philosophy
Freiburg is where Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger developed phenomenology.
Research
- Two Clusters of Excellence funded from 1 January 2026: CIBSS (Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies) and Future Forests (Adapting Complex Social-ecological Forest Systems to Global Change).
- €219 million in third-party funding in 2023 and 16 ERC Grants between 2019 and 2023.
- Nine Freiburg researchers were named Highly Cited Researchers in 2025.
- In the CWTS Leiden Ranking (publications 2020-2023), Freiburg is 10th in Germany for total publications and 9th for publications in the top 10% and top 1%.
Schools & faculties
- Faculty of Theology
- Faculty of Law
- Faculty of Economics and Behavioural Sciences
- Faculty of Medicine
- Faculty of Philology
- Faculty of Humanities
- Faculty of Mathematics and Physics
- Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy
- Faculty of Biology
- Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources
- Faculty of Engineering
Student life
Freiburg's main university buildings sit in the old town, around the red sandstone Kollegiengebäude I and the University Library, with a separate natural sciences campus. Students live in Studierendenwerk Freiburg (SWFR) residences or in shared flats rented privately. SWFR runs an International Club, a buddy programme and a tandem language programme for new international students. The university awards an annual Alumni Prize for Social Involvement to student groups, won in 2025 by the medical students' Teddy Bear Hospital, and students of all subjects can earn a Sustainability Certificate.
- About 18% of students are international (4,367 in winter semester 2024/25).
- University College Freiburg's LAS programme has a small, international cohort of about 80 students a year.
- Studierendenwerk Freiburg runs an International Club, a buddy programme and language tandems.
- Students of all subjects can earn a Sustainability Certificate, and a student-initiated Sustainability Office opened in 2023.
Housing. Students apply online for rooms in Studierendenwerk Freiburg residences or rent rooms in shared flats on the private market, which SWFR's accommodation service lists.
Location
Freiburg im Breisgau is a university city in the far south-west of Germany, on the edge of the Black Forest and close to the French and Swiss borders. The university's historic buildings are in the compact city centre. Freiburg is part of Eucor – The European Campus, a cross-border alliance with nearby universities, and the EPICUR European university alliance.
Nearest airport: EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg (BSL/MLH)
Notable alumni
- MH Martin HeideggerPhilosopher, author of Being and Time; studied theology and philosophy at Freiburg and later taught there
- ES Edith SteinPhilosopher and saint; completed her doctorate at Freiburg in 1916 and became Husserl's assistant
- HK Hans KrebsNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1953 (citric acid cycle); studied medicine at Freiburg
- GH George de HevesyNobel Prize in Chemistry 1943 for radioactive tracers; doctorate in physics from Freiburg in 1908
- WS Wolfgang SchäubleGerman finance minister 2009-2017 and President of the Bundestag 2017-2021; studied law and economics at Freiburg
- KR Karl RahnerJesuit theologian; studied for a doctorate in philosophy at Freiburg
- HG Hans-Georg GadamerPhilosopher of hermeneutics; studied with Heidegger at Freiburg
Frequently asked questions
Does the University of Freiburg charge tuition fees?
EU/EEA students pay no tuition, only a €190 semester fee. Non-EU/EEA international students pay €1,500 per semester in addition, under Baden-Württemberg law, unless an exemption applies.
Can I study a bachelor's in English at Freiburg?
Only the Liberal Arts and Sciences programme at University College Freiburg is taught in English. All other bachelor's and state examination programmes are in German and require C1-level German, such as DSH 2 or TestDaF 4.
What is the application deadline for Freiburg?
For restricted-admission programmes and LAS, the window runs from 1 June to 15 July for the winter semester. Open-admission programmes accepted applications until 8 October in 2026.
Do I apply to Freiburg through uni-assist?
No. International applicants apply directly in Freiburg's online application portal, which opens on 1 June for the winter semester. LAS applicants also register on hochschulstart.de first.
What if my school certificate is not recognised in Germany?
You can apply in the Freiburg portal for the assessment examination, which places you in a one-year preparatory course at the Studienkolleg in Heidelberg. Passing it gives you a subject-restricted university entrance qualification.
Sources & methodology
Figures on this page were checked against official university publications, national application services and ranking publishers in September 2026. Each number is shown with the year or admissions cycle it describes. Always confirm deadlines and fees on the university's own website before applying.
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