uni-assist is an institution for the preliminary examination of international study applications. It checks whether your application documents have been submitted in the correct form, completely and on time, and whether you fulfill the conditions for studying at a German university with your submitted educational certificates.
When uni-assist has completed the examination, you will receive a notification as to whether or not your application meets the requirements for studying in your desired field of study. If the examination is positive, uni-assist will forward your application to the university of your choice, which will then decide whether or not you will be accepted.
There is special information for refugees at uni-assist.
In addition, you will find a lot of useful tips and advice for your application planning on the uni-assist website, which you should definitely take a look at.
Create an account
First you have to create an account, i.e. register in the online portal "My Assist". As a registered user, you can start the application process.
Please note: You have to apply separately for each subject and each university, i.e. two subjects at the same university are already two applications. There are costs for each individual application, see below ("Is uni-assist free to use").
Documents
Here you can find out which documents you need for your application and how to submit them.
If you are unable to present all documents due to your flight, uni-assist will send you a so-called self-disclosure form and will forward your application to the university of your choice.
Online application
Once you have collected all documents, you can apply online via the uni-assist application portal.
Paying costs
In order for your application to be processed, you will need to pay a processing fee, see more info below under "Is applying through uni-assist free?"
Submitting and tracking
Once you have paid the processing fee and successfully submitted your application in My Assist, you can send your documents to uni-assist. To find out if you can do this online or if you have to send the documents by mail, click here. You can track the status of your application here.
No, there is a fee for applying to uni-assist:
The first application costs 75 euros, each additional application costs 30 euros. This means that if you apply to one university for three different subjects or to three different educational institutions, but for one subject each, you will have to pay 135 euros.
Please note: The processing of your documents will not begin until payment has been received!
The payment is only valid for one semester. If you already submitted your documents six months ago but are doing so again, you will have to pay for the application again: the first subject 75 euros, all further subjects 30 euros.
Hochschulstart is a platform for submitting documents to German educational institutions with admission-restricted study places. For some study places you have to register with hochschulstart for the application at uni-assist.
Find out more about registering and using the platform on the hochschulstart website here.
If you do not have a German university entrance qualification and come from a country other than Germany, the EU, Lichtenstein, Iceland or Norway, you must submit your application via uni-assist if your university of choice is a member of uni-assist. You can see if this is the case here. If your university of choice is not a member, you must apply directly to the university.
Before you apply, be sure to check with the university of your choice to find out where you need to send your application documents. There are also universities with their own application procedures. Note that some universities require an application via two platforms, e.g. via uni-assist and their own.
If the application via uni-assist or hochschulstart was not successful because there are special features in your case that are not covered there, contact the student advisory service of the respective university. In individual cases, subsequent admissions are possible.