Jacobs University

Located in northern Germany, Jacobs University is one of the country’s most international universities, characterized by a truly intercultural community of students and faculty. Founded in 2001 as a private English-speaking university, Jacobs attracts highly talented and open-minded students from all over the world, with more than 1,400 students from over 100 countries currently living on its residential campus. 

On a campus where the whole world is at home, Jacobs University provides an education that transcends disciplines and cultural boundaries. Jacobs’s students graduate as global citizens who will make a difference in tomorrow’s world.

Program overview
Jacobs University is a research-oriented, state-accredited university with a broad portfolio of pre-degree, undergraduate, and graduate programs ranging from the natural sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering to the social sciences and Economics.

The Foundation Year is a tailor-made one-year preparatory program. Students can use this year for orientation and skill-building. Jacobs University’s challenging three-year undergraduate programs prepare students for a successful academic and professional career. Students can study a major and minor and even have the possibility to change their major in their first year of studies.

Teaching and learning
At Jacobs University, class sizes are small and a professor acts as a personal mentor and academic advisor for each student. Students are actively involved in research from their first year of study while having access to modern lab facilities and state-of-the-art technology. A transdisciplinary approach is one of the core elements of a Jacobs University education. Study modules cover various aspects of academic fields, reflecting the complex nature of interconnected topics and global challenges.

The University’s reputation speaks for itself, with consistently high rankings achieved in Germany’s widely respected Centre for Higher Education (CHE) and the international U-Multirank.

Living on campus
Jacobs University is a residential university that unites living and learning on an 80-acre green and tree-shaded campus. Students live in one of four residential colleges consisting of two-bedroom apartments with shared bathroom facilities. Each college has its own study areas, group meeting rooms, and a recreational lounge as well as its own cafeteria where students can enjoy international cuisine together.

Jacobs University offers many social and cultural activities for students outside the classroom. The variety of over 100 student-driven events during the year are the hallmark of our vibrant campus community, including cultural festivals like the Deepavali Festival of Lights or Chinese New Year and educational events like Country Information Days. Over 50 student clubs ranging from arts to sports and community groups provide further opportunities to foster our students’ development of interpersonal and intercultural competencies.

Academic life is further enhanced by various campus facilities, including a fitness center and indoor rowing tank, dance rooms, the campus interfaith house, the campus cinema, and the theater space.

Career opportunities
Graduates of Jacobs University follow a variety of career paths all over the world.

Around two-thirds have gone directly into a professional career, with Google, Microsoft, Siemens, Airbus, Roche, and Volkswagen among the top 10 employers of our alumni.

Numerous events like the annual career fair offer networking opportunities for internships and employment. Global players such as Facebook, Microsoft, AB InBev, EON, and McKinsey conduct recruiting events directly on campus.

About one-third of our students pursue further graduate or professional studies at internationally renowned universities such as Harvard, Cambridge, or Bocconi, to name a few.