Germany enjoys a remarkable reputation for its higher education sector: There are more than 400 universities, and many of them score high in international rankings, among the top universities in the world. The two hot spots of academic excellence are Munich (with Ludwig Maximilians University, LMU, and the Technical University of Munich, TUM) and Berlin (with the HU, the FU and the TU). But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, and there are many more world-class institutions in other corners of the country.
| University | QS Ranking 2020 | THE Ranking 2020 | ARWU Ranking 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technical University of Munich (TUM) | 55 | 43 | 57 |
| Ludwig Maximilians University Munich | 63 | 32 | 52 |
| Heidelberg University | 66 | 44 | 47 |
| Humboldt University Berlin | 120 | 74 | – |
| Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) | 124 | 175 | 201 |
| Freie Universität Berlin | 130 | 117 | – |
| RWTH Aachen University | 138 | 99 | 201 |
| Technische Universität Berlin | 147 | 149 | 301 |
| University of Freiburg | 169 | 86 | 101 |
| University of Tübingen | 169 | 91 | 151 |
| Technische Universität Dresden | 179 | 157 | 201 |
| University of Göttingen | 197 | 125 | 101 |
| Universität Hamburg | 227 | 149 | 201 |
| University of Bonn | 243 | 105 | 70 |
| TU Darmstadt | 260 | 251 | 501 |
| University of Stuttgart | 279 | 251 | 301 |
| Goethe University Frankfurt | 291 | 301 | 101 |
| University of Cologne | 308 | 157 | 151 |
| University of Mannheim | 314 | 157 | – |
| FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg | 319 | 183 | 201 |
| Ulm University | 340 | 141 | 201 |
| Friedrich Schiller University Jena | 340 | – | 301 |
| University of Münster | 347 | 189 | 151 |
| Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz | 410 | 301 | 201 |
| University of Konstanz | 424 | 201 | 401 |
| Ruhr University Bochum | 432 | 251 | 301 |
| University of Würzburg | 462 | 163 | 201 |
| Saarland University | 468 | – | 501 |
| Kiel University | 478 | 251 | 201 |
| Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg | 511 | – | 401 |
| University of Bremen | 521 | 351 | 501 |
| Technische Universität Braunschweig | 521 | 601 | 501 |
| Justus Liebig University | 521 | 351 | 501 |
| Leipzig University | 531 | – | 201 |
| University of Bayreuth | 541 | 351 | 501 |
| University of Regensburg | 601 | – | 501 |
| University of Duisburg-Essen | 601 | 194 | 301 |
| University of Hohenheim | 651 | 201 | 701 |
| University of Marburg | 651 | 301 | 501 |
| Leibniz Universität Hannover | 651 | 401 | 501 |
| University of Potsdam | 701 | 251 | 401 |
| University of Rostock | 751 | – | 501 |
| Bielefeld University | 751 | 166 | 501 |
| TU Dortmund University | 751 | 351 | 501 |
| Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf | 751 | – | 201 |
| University of Siegen | 801 | 501 | – |
| Paderborn University | – | – | 801 |
| University of Kassel | – | – | 801 |
| University of Augsburg | – | – | 801 |
| Technische Universität Chemnitz | – | 601 | 801 |
| University of Magdeburg | – | – | 601 |
| Universität zu Lübeck | – | – | 601 |
| University of Greifswald | – | 501 | 601 |
| University of Oldenburg | – | – | 501 |
| Hannover Medical School | – | – | 301 |
| University of Passau | – | 251 | – |
| University of Kaiserslautern | – | 601 | – |
| Jacobs University Bremen | – | 301 | – |
| Ilmenau University of Technology | – | 801 | – |
| Hamburg University of Technology | – | 501 | – |
| University of Wuppertal | – | 501 | – |
The QS World University Rankings are among the most important, most-referenced rankings. The QS ranking relies heavily on its academic survey, asking thousands of academics worldwide about the reputation of universities.
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings (or the THE Rankings for short) compile a wide range of statistics. Equal weight is put on teaching quality, research excellence, and research impact through citations (meaning how often a university’s research is referenced elsewhere).
The Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University (often just Shanghai Ranking, or ARWU) focuses on research output and quality, for example measured by the number of published and cited scientific papers and the number of staff or alumni winning the Nobel Prize or Fields Medal.

For many international students, Germany is the ideal country to study abroad: World-leading universities, many English-language study options especially at the postgraduate level, and no tuition fees at public universities. For these reasons and more, every year around 100,000 students from around the world choose to come to Germany for their university education.
Read more about studying in Germany