What kind of education organization a University Entrance Preparatory Class is?

Any foreign students who cannot meet the requirements for direct university entrance must apply to study the university entrance preparatory class first to get the qualification to apply the university entrance.
The University Entrance Preparatory Class for foreign students (Studienkolleg für ausländische Studierende), just as its name implies, is a kind of special class provided by German colleges and universities to foreign students from outside the European Union who cannot apply the university entrance directly. After one year’s study the student can obtain the University Entrance Qualification (Hochschulzugangsberechtigung) after passing the German University Entrance Examination for Foreign Students (Prüfung für die Feststellung der Eignung ausländischer Studienbewerber für die Aufnahme eines Studiums an Hochschulen, for short:Feststellungsprüfung).
If the applicant is sure that he or she has the capability in the German language and the professional knowledge to pass the University Entrance Examination, he or she can apply to attend this examination directly without studying in the preparatory class with the permission from the college or university.

What are the requirements for a student from China to apply to study in a university entrance preparatory class?
There are three requirements sumed up as following.
Firstly, the student shall have finished more than one and less than three semesters of study in an undergraduate education program in a formal college or university or the academic certificate for graduation from a three-year junior college in China with excellent scores.
Secondly, the student shall rather good language skills in German, equivalent to passing the medium level examination (ZMP) of the Goethe Institute (GI) or TestDaF TDN3.
Thirdly, the student shall pass the entrance examination for the preparatory class.
Graduates from a senior middle school who has not entered a college or university are not qualified to apply to study in a preparatory class.

How can we apply to study in a university entrance preparatory class?
If you want to apply to study in a university entrance preparatory class, you just need to clearly specify so in the corresponding column in the uniform university entrance application form. Comprehensive universities and universities of applied sciences all have their own preparatory classes or several universities can have one common preparatory class. The applicant only needs to submit the application to the comprehensive university or the University of Applied Sciences he or she wants to study in.
You have to pass an examination (Aufnahmeprüfung) to be allowed to enter the preparatory class. The purpose of the examination is to check whether the applicant has the ability to understand the lessons taught in German and math is also tested sometimes. If you have failed in this examination, you can apply to study in the preparatory class for this examination (Vorkurs), whose quota is limited. Generally a student is allowed to attend the examination for only one more time.
Information concerning the German university entrance preparatory classes can be obtained in the website www.studienkollegs.de.

What are the other issues we need to pay attention to for applying to study in a university entrance preparatory class?
There is one point we want to emphasize here, that is you need to select your major carefully before the application, for you are only allowed to study the professional qualification of the same kinds of majors the “University Entrance Examination” you have passed for. And the changing of major to majors of other kinds is not allowed. For example, if the preparatory class you studied in is for majors of language, you would not be allowed to apply such majors as Economy or Enterprise Economy/Management.
How is the class allocated in the university entrance preparatory class? What are the courses to be learned?
Different kinds of classes are available for different kinds of majors and the courses provided also vary accordingly. There are also some differences between comprehensive universities (Uni) and universities of applied sciences (FH).
The required courses for the preparatory class of a comprehensive university (Uni) include:
T-Kurs (Technology, Mathematics and Sciences, not including Biology): German, Mathematics, Physics/Chemistry and Informatics
M-Kurs (Medicine and Biology): German, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Informatics
W-Kurs (Economy and Sociology): German, Mathematics, National Economy, Enterprise Economy/Management or English, History/Geography/Sociology and Informatics
G-Kurs (Arts and German Language and Literature): German, History, German Literature (English for some majors) and Sociology/Geography
S-Kurs (Languages not including German): German, a Second Foreign Language, History or Sociology/Geography or German Literature
The required courses for the preparatory class of a university of applied sciences (FH) include:
Kurs TI (Technology and Engineering): German, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Technical Drawings or Informatics
Kurs WW (Economy): German, Mathematics, National Economy and Enterprise Management, Information Technology and Informatics, and English
Kurs GD (Designing and Arts): German, Mathematics, Designing, Physics, and Computer Aided Designing
Kurs SW (Sociology): German, Mathematics, Sociology (Education/Psychology, Sociology and Laws), Information Technology and Informatics, and English
Kurs DÜ (Translation): German, a Second Foreign Language (English or French, usually only expanding classes are available), a Third Foreign Language (English, French or Spanish), Information Technology and Informatics

If the academic background of the applicant can meet the requirements and is only insufficient in the German language skills, can he or she be allowed to study German in the university entrance preparatory class?
No. If the academic background of the applicant can meet the requirements, he or she shall apply the university entrance and study German in the language class of the college or university or apply to study German in a language school.

What if an applicant fails in the University Entrance Examination (Feststellungsprüfung) for the first time?
If the applicant fails for the first time, he or she is allowed to attend the examination for another time, and the last time, half a year or one year later.

Can a student in the university entrance preparatory class enjoy the rights of a formal undergraduate student?
A student in the university entrance preparatory class is registered as the formal student and can enjoy the rights of a formal undergraduate student.