Are diplomas ganted by a college or a unviersity in China recognized in a German college or university?

The German colleges and universities would cope with this issue according to the Suggestions on the Evaluation of the Corresponding Diploma granted by Foreign Colleges and Universities issued by the Standing Conference of the Minister of Education of the Federal Republic of Germany (Die Ständige Konferenz der Kultusminister der Länder in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland). According to the current regulations, all the diplomas granted to a student who has finished the undergraduate education program or the three-year junior college education program by colleges or universities officially recognized by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China and listed among the list held by Germany shall be recognized by German colleges and universities. Diplomas granted by non-formal colleges or universities or other non-formal higher education programs are usually not recognized.
In recent years, some of the colleges and universities were experiencing some modifications or mergers and their names have been changed. When applying to study in German colleges and universities, students from these colleges and universities shall present their supporting documents provided by the present colleges and universities and the documents shall be stamped with the official seal and notarized (attached with the translated German version or the English version). For a formal college or university founded after 1995, which is approved by the Ministry of Education but not listed among the list held by Germany, it is suggested that the applicant shall submit the supporting documents provided by the higher level education supervision authority and the documents shall be stamped with the official seal and notarized.

Education Experience Requirements on Applicants from China
1) The applicant shall have graduated from the 12-year senior middle school education program and entered a college or a university after successfully passing the college entrance examination.
a) The applicant can directly enter the German college or university to study the same major if he or she is the student of a four-year undergraduate education program in a key university in China (listed among the 211 Project University List of PRC) who has finished at least 1 semester of study. 

b) The applicant can directly enter the German college or university to study the same major if he or she is the student of a four-year undergraduate education program in a regular college or university who has finished at least 3 semesters of study.

c) The applicant must finish the study in the university entrance preparatory class or directly attend the German University Entrance Examination (Feststellungsprüfung) and obtain the “University Entrance Qualification” before being allowed to enter the German college or university if he or she is the student of a four-year undergraduate education program in an ordinary college or university who has finished at least 1 and less than 3 semesters of study. 

d) The applicant must be graduated before he or she can apply to be audited by the overseas study auditing department if he or she is the student of a three-year junior college (Junior-College mit 3jähriger Gesamtstudiendaür). After passing the audit, he or she must pass the “University Entrance Examination” held in the preparatory class in a German college or university before being allowed to enter. Or he or she can finish one year of study in the preparatory class and pass the course completion examination to be allowed to enter the college or university.
2) For an applicant who has graduated from the 11-year senior middle school education program, passed the college entrance examination, entered the four-year undergraduate education program in an ordinary university and finished five semesters of study, he or she can directly apply to enter the German college or university. If the applicant has finished two years of study, he or she must pass the “University Entrance Examination” held in the preparatory class in a German college or university to obtain the entrance qualification before applying to enter the college or university and he or she shall not change the major.

The education backgrounds in the “Two-year Junior Colleges” in China are not recognized by German colleges and universities.

Are the education backgrounds in the radio and TV universities and other kinds of adult education programs recognized by German colleges and universities?
The education backgrounds in the radio and TV universities and other kinds of adult education programs are not recognized by German colleges and universities?

Can graduates from senior middle schools in China apply to study in German colleges and universities?
Graduates from senior middle schools in China who have not entered university do not have the qualification to apply to study in German colleges and universities (including the preparatory classes). They cannot pass the audition by the German Overseas Study Auditing Department. Large amounts of facts have shown that, the standard and reliable route to study overseas in Germany is to enter the undergraduate education program of a formal university or the education program of a three-year junior college first and apply to study abroad in Germany when you have fulfilled the requirements. Or, you may encounter various kinds of bothersome and difficult problems in Germany if you select to go there through other routes.

How are the academic scores and academic degrees of graduates from an undergraduate education program in China converted in German colleges and universities?If you selected a major (like Engineering, Sciences, Medicine, Arts, Economy, Law, etc.) in the German college or university the same as your original one, the university would perform the conversion according to the basic and professional courses you have taken and your academic scores following the relevant regulations. A graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree from China may be allowed to be exempted from one to four semesters of study. There are no universally recognized standards in this practice. The exact number of semesters exempted varies for each individual student and is decided with the German college or university’s own discretion. If necessary, the applicant needs to pass the “Intermediate Examination”, which requires that the applicant shall have rather rich professional background and language skills in German.
A corresponding committee for the German colleges and universities is responsible for the confirmation and the conversion of the academic scores. If the applicant has any objections, he or she can complain to the leaders of the college or university (the responsible person is usually the vice president in charge of education and scientific research) and the results would be audited and judged by a university level committee.

If the applicant applies to change his or her major, how is the education background in China recognized?
If the applicant want to change the major and study a new major, usually he or she has to start learning from the very beginning and there would be no such a matter as the conversion of academic scores. And sometimes, he or she even has to study in the preparatory class first to get the University Entrance Qualification after pass the University Entrance Examination.

Is it allowed to change the major in German? How is the successful rate?
In principle, it is allowed to change the major in a German college or university during the basic study period. The successful rate is dependent on the specific college or university, the corresponding major and the academic scores of the student. Generally, it is rather complicated to change the major. Especially when you want to change from an ordinary major to one of such “hot” majors or majors with some certain quota, the successful rate would be quite low. It is recommended that the students from China shall select the right major he or she really likes at the time of applying to enter the college or university. Do not pin the hope on changing the major when he or she has been in Germany.

What majors are applied by most of the students from China?
There are no specific statistic data on this. According to the information from the consultants, the most popular majors are Enterprise Economy and Management, National Economy, MBA, Informatics, Computer Technology, Communication Technology, Machine Manufacturing, Environment Protection, Medicine, Architecture, Laws, Media, Language and Literature, Music, Painting, Planar Design, etc.

What majors are easy to apply?
Strictly speaking, there is nothing like easy or difficult for all the majors. The key to the successful application lies in the college or university the applicant was in back in China, its teaching quality, the academic scores and the professional capability of the applicant. No doubt, the successful application rate would be higher for those applicants with high academic scores from a college or university with a higher teaching quality. On this condition, majors without any “quota limits” are relatively easier to apply.

Are there any restrictions on the age when applying to the university entrance?
Generally, there are no restriction on the age for the German colleges and universities.