Magdeburg and OVGU: 17 English-taught degrees in a cheap eastern city
TL;DR: Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg offers 17 Bachelor and Master degrees where English is the main language of instruction, with engineering and computer science at the core. The city is among the cheaper places to be a student in Germany.
The university in one paragraph
Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, usually shortened to OVGU, is a public university in Saxony-Anhalt with a technical centre of gravity: mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, process engineering, economics and medicine. It is named after the physicist who demonstrated the force of a vacuum with two copper hemispheres and a team of horses, which tells you where the institution's pride sits.
What runs in English
There are 17 Bachelor and Master degrees at Magdeburg where English is the main language of instruction. That number matters more than it looks: at many German technical universities the English-taught list is one or two token programmes, and applicants discover the rest of the catalogue is German-taught after they have fallen in love with the university.
Check the specific programme page for the language of instruction before you apply. Where a programme is German-taught, you are looking at TestDaF or DSH, which is a year of work rather than a form.
Why the city belongs in the decision
Read Also: Best Public Universities in Germany 2026: Top 10 Ranking for International Students
Magdeburg sits in the eastern half of the country, where student costs are markedly lower than in Munich, Frankfurt or Hamburg. For a self-funded student the difference between a 300 euro room and a 700 euro room compounds across a two-year master into real money, and it is the single biggest variable you control.
The trade is the same one every smaller German city offers: lower costs, a smaller part-time job market, and more German in daily life. Our housing guide covers how to get a hall place, which is where the savings are largest.
Who OVGU suits
| Good fit | Poor fit |
|---|---|
| Engineering and computer science applicants who want an English-taught degree | Applicants set on a big-city social life |
| Students on a tight budget | Students who need a large English-speaking job market during the degree |
| Anyone planning to continue into research | Applicants looking for a business school experience |
Applying, in the right order
- Check your own university in Anabin.
- Confirm the programme's language of instruction and entry requirements on its own page.
- Convert your marks with the German grade converter.
- Follow the application route the programme names, whether that is direct or via uni-assist.
- Plan the visa and the blocked account alongside, not afterwards.
The wider method is in our guide to shortlisting German universities for a master.
After the degree
Engineering graduates from an eastern German university face the same national labour market as everyone else, and the residence rules do not care which city your degree came from: a German degree plus two years of qualifying work reaches a settlement permit, as our guide to permanent residence explains.
Sources
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