Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences

Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences
Hochschule Rhein-Waal
	Logo of the university
Type	Public
Established	2009
President	Dr. Oliver Locker-Grütjen
Academic staff	251
Students	7300 (2017/18)
Location	Kleve and Kamp-Lintfort, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Website	www.hochschule-rhein-waal.de/en

Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences (German: Hochschule Rhein-Waal) or HSRW, is a young and fast growing German public university that first opened for the winter semester of 2009/10. It is known to be the most international university in Germany, and offers the majority of degree programs completely in English. Its two campuses are located in the cities of Kleve and in Kamp-Lintfort.^[1] The university is named after the German river Rhine and Dutch river Waal. As of 2018, it offers a variety of both English- and German-languaged study programmes through four faculties: Faculty of Technology & Bionics, Faculty of Life Sciences, Faculty of Society and Economics and Faculty of Communication and Environment.

History[]

The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia organized a competition for the creation of three new Universities on 28 May 2008. The applicants were Kleve and the "We-4"-cities (Kamp-Lintfort, Moers, Neukirchen and Rheinberg), but the concept of separate universities was discarded. Instead, in November 2008, the responsibility was assigned jointly to the two competing candidates Kleve and Kamp-Lintfort, to establish a bipolar university. In April 2009, Prof. Dr. was appointed President and Prof. Dr. Vice President of the university. The official founding date of the University was 1 May 2009.

In 2015, founding president Professor Dr Marie Klotz was replaced by Dr Heide Naderer. Since 2019 Dr Oliver Locker-Grütjen runs the office of the president.

Internationality[]

As of 2018, half of the entire student body is international, coming from 122 different countries, while the percentage of international students is steadily increasing year by year. Of all the bachelor's and master's programs offered at Rhine-Waal University, 75% are being taught completely in English.^[2]

Tuition and fees[]

Due to being a public university in the state of NRW, no tuition fees are being charged no matter the nationality of the student. There is a semester-fee of €307.38 (as of 2020) to be paid twice a year, which covers e.g. social services contribution, and unlimited public transportation within the entire state.^[3] The university offers merit-based scholarships of €3600 per year for outstanding students regardless of origin on an academic year by year basis. In 2017, this was awarded to 80 students.^[4]

Reputation[]

The courses are accredited by AQAS and . Recent graduates of the university moved on to become e.g. engineers at BMW and Lufthansa, or went to graduate schools such as University of Melbourne and KTH Royal Institute of Technology.^[5]