Welcome at the HfG in Schwä­bisch Gmünd!

We appre­ciate your inte­rest in studying at the Univer­sity of Design Schwä­bisch Gmünd. The Inter­na­tional Office welcomes appli­ca­tions from exch­ange students as well as from degree seeking students from around the world.

HfG Studierende

Degree Seeking Students

If you want to apply to the Hoch­schule für Gestal­tung as inter­na­tional full-time student, there are a couple of things you need to take notice of. 

If you obtained your univer­sity entry quali­fi­ca­tion in a country other than Germany, you need to have this quali­fi­ca­tion reco­gnized. All inter­na­tional appli­cants have to have their Higher Educa­tion Entry Quali­fi­ca­tion reco­gnized by the Center for Inter­na­tional Students (Studi­en­kolleg”) in Konstanz. If your quali­fi­ca­tion is reco­gnized, you will be given a certi­fi­cate matching your original grade onto the German grading scale. You have to submit this docu­ment with your appli­ca­tion, along with a copy of your original certi­fi­cate. The vali­da­tion of your certi­fi­cate is free of charge.

Application for degree study

HfG-Studierende in der Werkstatt

Exch­ange Students

Every semester we welcome more than 20 exch­ange students from all over the world! If you are studying at one of our partner insti­tu­tions, you can apply for an exch­ange period of one or two semes­ters at HfG Schwä­bisch Gmünd. Students from our Euro­pean and Israeli partner insti­tu­tions usually parti­ci­pate in the Erasmus+ program. If your univer­sity does not (yet) have a contract with us, it might be possible to apply as a free­mover. Please contact our Inter­na­tional Office for further infor­ma­tion then.

Study in Germany – Land of Ideas with useful insights and helpful infor­ma­tion about your stay in Germany provided by German Academic Exch­ange Service an initia­tive of the Federal Ministry of Educa­tion and Rese­arch. More infor­ma­tion here.

  • Appli­ca­tion

    First of all, the Inter­na­tional Office at your home insti­tu­tion has to nomi­nate you for one or two semes­ters of exch­ange studies. Nomi­nees are asked to send the follo­wing docu­ments to HfG’s Inter­na­tional Office via E‑mail:

    Please make sure to send all files in pdf or jpg format. Further­more, please note that your appli­ca­tion should not exceed 3 MB.

    The appli­ca­tion dead­lines are:
    May 1st for the follo­wing winter semester
    November 1st for the follo­wing summer semester

    We will let you know whether you have been selected for an exch­ange semester within four weeks. Our selec­tion process is based on your port­folio and available places in our study programs. All exch­ange students are expected to be profi­cient in English.

    HfG welcomes students with special needs.

  • Semester Dates and Welcome Week

    The winter semester usually starts in the second week of October, the summer semester starts in the second week of March. As an exch­ange student you will parti­ci­pate in our compul­sory Welcome Week one week prior to the offi­cial semester start.

    During the Welcome Week you’ll meet the other exch­ange students, student buddies and our Inter­na­tional Team. An inten­sive German course takes place and profes­sors, tutors and fellow students will give you a detailed expl­ana­tion of the eligible courses. The course selec­tion will happen during the Welcome Week. Addi­tio­nally, we offer a campus and city tour, a welcome dinner, a bar tour and we do orga­nize an excur­sion to the nearby city of Stutt­gart. We are looking forward to meeting you soon!

  • What courses can I choose?

    As an exch­ange student, you have the possi­bi­lity to enroll in one of our degree programs:

    • Commu­ni­ca­tion Design B.A.
    • Inter­ac­tion Design B.A.
    • Product Design B.A.

    You are then allowed to mix courses taught in English from those three programs and our new B.A. program Digital Product Design and Deve­lo­p­ment. For example, with a major in product design, you can also take classes from commu­ni­ca­tion or inter­ac­tion design as a minor if your home univer­sity agrees. Our profes­sors will advise you about the most appro­priate classes during the Welcome Week.

  • German language skills

    You don’t have to be able to speak any German as we offer a wide range of courses in English on under­gra­duate level. Further­more, all commu­ni­ca­tion will be in English. During the semester we offer a free German course once a week.

    If you are a graduate student, we, first of all, have to check if exch­ange is possible for you. Please contact the Inter­na­tional Office for that. In order to study one semester in our Master’s program, you have to be fluent in German.

International Students in Schwäbisch Gmünd

Studying and Living in Schwä­bisch Gmünd

An exch­ange semes­ter at the HfG opens new per­spec­tives! You will be con­fron­ted with other design themes and dif­fe­rent tea­ching and lear­ning methods and you will expe­ri­ence values, view­points and the design methods of another culture. Schwä­bisch Gmünd has a crea­tive envi­ron­ment with design offices, start-ups, co-working labs, and sports faci­li­ties. The low moun­tain range land­scape around the city offers many outdoor activities.

Student life in Schwäbisch Gmünd

Students´ Reports

Who can give you more authentic insights into HfG’s academic life than former exch­ange students?

My semester at the HfG Schwä­bisch Gmünd was very insightful and inspi­ra­tional. I gained new perspec­tives on both design and on life living abroad, and am very thankful for all the people I met and the things I learned during this experience.
Sean Cheng
San Jose State University, USA
My stay at Schwä­bisch Gmünd has been an adven­ture full of new expe­ri­ences. Thanks to the great family that forms the HfG and the kind­ness and empathy they have towards all their inter­na­tional students, I have had the oppor­tu­nity to actively be a part of this small commu­nity, meet wonderful people and parti­ci­pate in various projects that previously would have been unthinkable in my day to day. Are you looking for a place to try out new feelings, thoughts and ideas? Without a doubt, this is your place.
Ana Robles Perez
Universidad Complutense, Spain

Inter­na­tional Office

The Inter­na­tio­nal Office is located in the main buil­ding in room H1.01 – if you have any ques­ti­ons we are happy to assist you per­so­nally, or help you by email and phone:

Emma Ott

International Coordinator