HWR Berlin for international students: 12 English-taught programmes and who they suit

What HWR Berlin is

Hochschule fuer Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin, in English the Berlin School of Economics and Law, is a public university of applied sciences focused on business, economics, law and public administration. It has more than 11,000 students, and more than 1,000 of them are international, drawn from over 110 countries.

The international share is the part that matters to an applicant. It means the administrative machinery for foreign qualifications runs daily rather than occasionally.

The English-taught programmes

HWR Berlin offers 12 business-focused degree programmes taught in English, and a Master's in International Security Management also runs in English. The named English-taught Master's programmes include:

If your field sits outside business, economics and law, HWR is the wrong door. Use our programme directory to search by subject across the whole country instead.

Who it suits

HWR fits applicants who want a business Master's taught in English, in a capital city, at a public institution rather than a private business school. It is a poor fit for anyone hunting a research doctorate in engineering, and an obvious fit for supply chain, finance and international business profiles.

The exchange side is unusually busy: more than 1,000 students a year take part in the university's exchange programmes, which is worth knowing if you want a semester abroad inside your degree.

What a public business school is not

If your reference point is a private business school, reset two expectations. There is no cohort of forty with a concierge career service, and nobody will chase you about deadlines. Class sizes are larger, administration is self-service, and the value sits in the teaching and the city rather than in the wrapper.

What you get instead is the price. A public Master's in Berlin costs the semester contribution rather than five figures a year, and the degree carries the same recognition as any accredited German qualification. For most applicants that trade is the entire argument, and it is why competition for the English-taught places is real.

Getting in: what the competition looks like

Business Master's programmes taught in English attract applicants from everywhere, so the decisive factors are boringly conventional: your converted grade, whether your Bachelor's matches the subject, and whether your documents are in order on the day. Work experience helps for the consulting and supply chain routes.

The two things you control cheaply are the grade conversion and the recognition check. Do both before you write a motivation letter, because a mismatch there is fatal and a weak letter is only expensive.

Before you apply

• Check your university in Anabin. Business Master's programmes attract applications from institutions that Germany treats as conditional.
• Convert your marks with our German grade converter, because business programmes are competitive on grade.
• Confirm the application route and deadline on the programme page, then read our uni-assist guide if that is the route.
• Work out your funding. Public tuition is low, Berlin rent is not: see student housing.

After the degree

A business Master's in Berlin sits close to the job market that follows it, and the residence rules reward that. A German degree plus two years of qualifying work reaches a settlement permit, as our guide to permanent residence after studying sets out.

Sources

• HWR Berlin: university overview
• HWR Berlin: international students
• HWR Berlin: degree programmes