Moreover, statistics reveal that compared to a year ago their number increased significantly by 18 percentage points from 1,667 students that were during 2016/17 Winter Semester.
As of the 2017/18 winter semester, German universities counted a number of 1,970 students from Nigeria, placing Nigerian students among the five largest groups of African students currently attending university in Germany, the Studying-in-Germany.org says.
Low or no-tuition universities, affordable costs of living, highly ranked universities and an overall attractiveness make Germany of the most popular study abroad destinations. Nigerian students seem also attracted to studying in Germany.
Latest statistics collected from the 2017/18 winter semester show that 1,970 students from Nigeria were enrolled in German universities. As such, Nigeria stood among the five most popular countries of origin for African students in Germany.
Moreover, statistics reveal that compared to a year ago their number increased significantly by 18 percentage points from 1,667 students that were during 2016/17 Winter Semester.
In terms of the chosen academic institution, 1,280 were enrolled in Universities, 659 in “technical schools” (referred to as “Fachschule” in Germany) and 30 of the students were attending colleges of theology (theologische Hochschule).
Statistics further show the enrollment of Nigerian students by gender. Based on them, there were 1,970 male students and 439 female students.
Engineering is clearly the most popular degree for Nigerian students in Germany. Statistics collected as Winter Semester 2017/18 show that 724 Nigerian students were attending an engineering degree course. Quite as expected, male students accounted for most of them (638).
Economics and Social Sciences degree courses turned out to be popular as well. Last year 470 students from Nigeria were studying for a university degree on these subjects. Mathematics and Natural Sciences, on the other hand, were chosen by 343 Nigerian students.
It is not hard to understand why the number of Nigerian students in Germany is increasing at this speed. Germany has become a major attraction in the international higher education sector in recent years and currently counts over 378,000 international students. Thus, to a certain degree, it would be correct to expect a further increase in the coming years.