Freemovers

Could not find a suitable partner university? As a freemover, you can apply for a semester abroad at the university of your own choice. You should start by checking other HSBI students’ reports on their semesters abroad. We will be happy to pass on the contact details of students who have already stayed abroad.

You can either independently search for universities on the Internet or use the help of an intermediary agency (often free of charge), for example:

• GOstralia!-GOmerica! (Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, USA)
• Institut Ranke-Heinemann (Australia, Canada, New Zealand)
• College Contact (Asia, Australia, Europe, North & Latin America, New Zealand)
• IEC (Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North & Latin America, New Zealand)
• Asia Exchange (China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia)
• BeyondAbroad (Asia, Europe, Latin America)
• World of Students (Asia, Australia, Europe, North & Latin America, New Zealand)

You can also consult EducationUSA for specific information about the USA. 

• Information sessions on studies and internships in the USA take place regularly.
• For individual questions, please contact germany@educationusa.org or arrange a free online consultation.

Once you have found a university, check the following points (Tip: universities often have a special page for international students):

• During which periods do lectures and examinations take place? (They may differ from those of HSBI by several months!)
• Which courses could I attend there?
• In which languages are the courses taught?

Academic achievements from abroad can be recognised, so that a semester abroad can be fully integrated into your studies at HSBI.

It is best to check with your faculty whether courses attended abroad will be recognised before you apply for a study place. Even if they are not recognised, the courses attended abroad can be listed in your degree certificate.

You should also discuss with your programme director which semester is best suited for a semester abroad and whether it makes sense to postpone modules to a certain semester for the purposes of recognition.

Faculty of Engineering and Mathematics – Information on practical project & BAföG
Students from the Faculty of Engineering and Mathematics can replace the mandatory practical project with a semester abroad. If you consider this, please make sure to take into account any effects that this may have on the length of your studies and your entitlement to BAföG (see Merkblatt Auslandsstudium IuM).

We recommend you get a rough overview of the costs of your semester abroad in advance (see checklist).

Important note: Please make sure to pay particular attention to the tuition fees at universities abroad.

The good news is that there are many funding programmes and scholarships that offer financial support for your semester abroad and partly also cover the tuition fees (especially Auslands-BAföG). However, do check the application deadlines!

For freemovers, the Promos scholarship, the Mobility Grant, DAAD scholarships such as HAW.International, and Auslands-BAföG are particularly relevant.

Some scholarships can also be combined, e.g. Promos + Mobility Grant or “Auslands-BAföG” + most scholarship programmes.

To make sure that you are always covered, you should take out health, accident and liability insurance for abroad before the internship. You can either request an extension of your insurance from your current insurance provider or take out private supplementary insurance, e.g. via DAAD.

Please make sure to check with your current insurance provider whether you need to continue paying your insurance in Germany during your stay abroad.

Also find out about the safety situation in your destination country, e.g. via the Federal Foreign Office’s Sicher Reisen app, and register in the ELEFAND crisis prevention list.

Once you have clarified all points, you can apply to the respective university. Please make sure to also let us know where you are applying as a freemover by sending an e-mail to international.office@hsbi.de.

For scholarships, you will have to apply separately (e.g. with the International Office or DAAD). The application deadlines for Promos scholarships are usually 15 November for the coming summer semester and 15 May for the coming winter semester.