Securing Skilled Labour by Training High School Graduates from Abroad at German Universities

Students from abroad who graduate and stay in the country have very good chances on the German labour market. In 2014, for example, around 79 per cent of 25- to 64-year-olds who had completed their studies between 2004 and 2013 and were still living in Germany were in gainful employment. Of these, only 15.8 per cent had not been able to find a position matching their qualifications. A full 44.4 per cent had a tertiary degree in the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), which is a particularly sought-after qualification in Germany. This is a significantly higher proportion than the 30.0 per cent of all graduates who obtained a STEM degree in the same period. Moreover, comparison of the cost of educating students from abroad at German universities with their later payments of taxes and social contributions indicates that their training more than pays for itself, even though most of Germany’s 16 states do not charge foreign students any tuition fees.