This term describes the level of qualifications you are required to have obtained in order to be eligible to study at Freie Universität Berlin. You are required to have earned qualifications that render you eligible to study at an academic institution of higher education in the state of Berlin. This generally means the Abitur, or Allgemeine Hochschulreife, or the European Baccalaureate from a European school, but a vocational or professional qualification can also render you eligible to study at a higher education institution under certain conditions
It is also possible to finish school with a subject-specific higher education entrance qualification. Please note: This kind of school leaving certificate gives only a qualification for certain study programs.

A university of applied sciences entrance qualification (Fachhochschulreife) does not meet eligibility requirements to study at Freie Universität Berlin. Only after earning a degree at a university of applied sciences (Fachhochschule) are you considered eligible to begin an academic program at Freie Universität Berlin. A degree from a university of applied sciences is treated as equivalent to a general higher education entrance qualification.

Important information on foreign higher education entrance qualification:

Whether you have a foreign higher education entrance qualification does not depend on your school’s location, but rather on whether the diploma awarded is a German one or a foreign one. You are considered to have a foreign higher education entrance qualification if you earned for example:

• a French Baccalauréat at the Lycée Français in Berlin
• an International Baccalaureate from an international school in Germany or
• if you took the Assessment Exam (Feststellungsprüfung) at the Studienkolleg

How international qualifications have to be evaluated is stated by Zentralstelle für ausländisches Bildungswesen (ZaB) der Kultusministerkonferenz (KMK). You can obtain detailed information here: www.anabin.kmk.org (only in German)

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