University of Passau Scholarships for International Students 2026

Yes, there are a few distance-learning (online) degree options at the University of Passau (e.g., B.A. Catholic Theology (digital), LL.M. Legal Informatics, and some other programmes listed by the university), but the scholarships for online degrees are limited. Check with the latest guidelines for updated information.

Both, depending on the programme. The university’s degree overview shows many bachelor’s programmes are taught in German, while several master’s programmes are in English (and some are mixed German/English). In the scholarship-recipient stories, Christine Kigaga (M.A. Development Studies) said, “My Master’s program in Development Studies was fully taught in English,” and Hamza Ijaz (M.A. Governance and Public Policy) explained that “all core courses were offered in English” in his DAAD Helmut Schmidt track.

Even if your programme is taught in English, daily life can still require German. Christine also described struggling with a “language barrier” in day-to-day life in a smaller city.

It depends on the scholarship provider. University-linked options like the Deutschlandstipendium are described as supporting students “at all stages” of their degree studies, and the university’s general scholarship pages focus on merit/eligibility conditions rather than a single university-wide age cap. However, external scholarships can be age-restricted: in her story, Christine Kigaga noted that “many of the scholarships available were age-restricted,” and she didn’t qualify because she “was over 30.”

Scholarships at Passau are generally tied to being a student (and meeting the scholarship criteria), not limited to one subject, though some awards are subject-targeted (e.g., STEM-focused support for female students is listed by the university). Academically, Passau highlights fields like Law; Business and Economics; Teacher Education; Computer Science and Mathematics; Media, Cultures and Languages; and Society.

• Business: programmes include Business Administration (and related economics/business offerings), and scholarship recipients like Hamza Ijaz referenced interdisciplinary electives across faculties in an English-taught policy programme.
• STEM: the degree overview includes subjects such as Artificial Intelligence and Mathematics (English-taught at bachelor level) and an M.Sc. in Artificial Intelligence Engineering (English-taught at master level).
• Engineering: while Passau is not a traditional “engineering school” across many engineering branches, it does list engineering-oriented programmes like Artificial Intelligence Engineering (M.Sc.).
• Humanities & social sciences: many programmes sit in languages, cultural studies, communication, history, and society-related fields; scholarship stories at Passau prominently feature Development Studies and Governance/Public Policy (e.g., Aruba Irfan, Monika Ranabhat).
• Medicine: Passau’s published field list and degree overviews do not show a medicine/medical degree track. So scholarships “for medicine at Passau” are typically not applicable; international students aiming for medicine generally need to target medical universities and their specific admission rules.

It varies by funding source. The university explicitly states that the Deutschlandstipendium is available “to all students, regardless of citizenship.” Other options target specific groups (for example, some public support is limited to certain legal statuses, and BayBIDS is aimed at graduates of specific school networks). In the scholarship-recipient stories connected to Passau, you can also see a wide nationality spread—e.g., Christine Kigaga (Kenya), Aruba Irfan (Pakistan), and Monika Ranabhat (Nepal).

For DAAD Helmut Schmidt funding specifically, Aruba Irfan described it as being designed for “graduates from developing countries,” which means nationality (and/or country context) can matter a lot for external scholarships.

Often, yes, but it depends on the programme language and your background. For German-taught degrees, the university publishes programme-by-programme German language requirements and notes it only accepts language certificates issued within the past two years. For English-taught tracks, English proficiency is commonly required: Christine Kigaga said she “sat the IELTS” as part of applying, Monika Ranabhat reported IELTS with “high scores,” and Hamza Ijaz wrote that proof of English proficiency was required and he scored “118 out of 120” on TOEFL.

There isn’t one single university-wide “minimum GPA” that applies to all programmes; requirements vary by degree programme and applicant background (and some international applicants apply via uni-assist, which also provides grade conversion guidance). What you can take from the scholarship-recipient stories is that successful applicants came with different academic profiles: Christine Kigaga reported an undergraduate GPA of “2.4” on the European grading system, Aruba Irfan listed a “CGPA: 3.67,” Monika Ranabhat reported “GPA: 3.96/4.00,” and Hamza Ijaz listed “GPA: 3.11/4.0.”

Strong academics help, but so does fit and evidence of impact. The university describes the Deutschlandstipendium as supporting students who combine excellent educational performance with strong social commitment and having overcome hurdles in life/education. In the recipient stories, personal narrative and relevance mattered a lot: Aruba Irfan emphasized that “the motivation letter is the heart of your application,” while Hajrah linked her success to relevant climate/governance experience and highlighted the value of “the strong recommendation letter” she received from a supervisor.

Practically, the “best” background is the one that matches your programme (e.g., policy/development/social sciences for Governance & Public Policy or Development Studies; quantitative foundations for AI/CS/maths), and is backed by clear goals, good writing, and credible references.

It depends on your route (direct application vs. uni-assist) and programme level, but the university’s international-qualification guidance includes common core items such as: a passport identity-page copy, a chronological CV, certified copies of your university entrance qualification and academic transcripts/certificates (with certified translations into German or English if required), plus a certified copy of the required language certificate (German where applicable). For master’s programmes, additional evidence may be required depending on the programme (e.g., specific skills/criteria).

From the recipient stories, you can also see what this looks like in real life: Christine Kigaga described gathering “academic transcripts and certificates” and taking IELTS; Hamza Ijaz focused on TOEFL proof and a coherent motivation/story; and Aruba Irfan stressed the motivation letter as the part where “your story, goals, and passion come to life.”

For many international applicants, the main application-related cost is not a University of Passau fee but a uni-assist processing fee: the university notes uni-assist charges 75 euros for the first university application and 30 euros for each additional one. So, whether you pay an “application fee” depends on whether your application is handled via uni-assist. Check the latest guidelines for updated information.