Ap­plic­a­tion dead­lines

Application for the preparatory German language course (DSH course)

If you have not yet acquired one of the recognized German language certificates to enrol for a German taught degree course, you can - regardless of your nationality - apply for a preparatory German language course (DSH course) offered by the International Office (see question  11 of the application form). Our DSH courses start every three months (after the course in October 2022 every semester). Please pay attention to the respective application deadlines.

Application procedure for degree courses

  • Applicants who already hold one of the recognized language certificates can directly apply for our degree courses. In case that applicants do not have certified copies of their documents yet, they can also initially apply with uncertified copies
  • For some degree courses the application has to be done via the uni-assist online portal. You can find an overview under "applicant groups" on the webpages of the International Office.
  • If your desired degree program is not subject to Uni-Assist, please apply for a preliminary examination of your school and/or university certificates with the “Application for university entrance examination” (?Antrag zur Prüfung des Hochschulzugangs“). You can then apply directly via the Paderborn University application portal during the application phase with the preliminary examination report. It is not possible to apply without the preliminary examination report. 

Deadlines for applications via uni-assist

German taught degree courses:

  • Winter semester (starting in October) until 31 May
  • Summer semester (starting in April) until 15 January

Exception:

For the winter semester 2025/26, applications for the newly accredited Master's degree program ?Deutsch als Zweit- und Fremdsprache für Beruf und Fachstudium“ can be submitted by mail/post until 15.09.2025. 

English taught Master programs 

  • Winter semester (starting in October) until 31 May
  • Summer semester (starting in April) until 30 November

 Please submit your educational documents via the Uni-Assist Online Portal.
 Please choose after login in uni-assist : Application - Universities (Master) - North Rhine Westphalia - Paderborn.

Deadlines for the “Application for university entrance examination” (?Antrag zur Prüfung des Hochschulzugangs“)

  • Winter semester (starting in October) until 31 May
  • Summer semester (starting in April) until 30 November

Application deadline for master degree courses for bachelor degree holders from another German university 

Applicants who have already accomplished a bachelor's degree or are right before completing a bachelor's degree course at a German university and would like to change for a master`s degree course to Paderborn University, have to apply by the application portal within the deadlines listed below. This regulation applies to all degree programmes!

Winter semester (start October): 15 August
Summer semester (start April): 15 February

Transition to degree course after DSH-course 

Only for participants of DSH-course of Umiversity of Paderborn! Please apply by the application portal.

Master Programs and admission-restricted degree programmes (Bachelor): 30.06. (Winter semester) / 15.01. (Summer semester)
Bachelor's degree programmes without admission restrictions: 31.08. (Winter semester) / 28.02. (Summer semester)

Application for the International Foundation College (Studienkolleg)

Information about the application for the International Foundation College at Paderborn University can be found here.