The International Welcome Week takes place at the University of Applied Sciences Stralsund (HOST) from 10 to 15 March. In the summer semester 100 new international students will start their studies at HOST. For them, the start of their studies - in a different country with a different culture - is of course even more challenging than for the other new students in the summer semester 2025. To make their arrival at HOST as pleasant as possible, the International Office has put together a programme of events: Free preparatory German courses and information events are planned, as well as personal enrolment appointments. "We have created a mix of the obligatory aspects of starting a degree and an exciting leisure programme," says Lisa Arndt, Incoming Coordinator at the International Office. "It is important to us that the students really arrive and become part of the HOST community - and programme items such as speedfriending, a cinema event and a city rally are very helpful in achieving this".
The programme
The 100 new international students
… are not enrolled in all 29 HOST degree programmes; in the summer semester, they are enrolled mainly in the Master's degree programmes. Of course, the English-instructed courses are particularly popular with the „internationals“, especially Renewable Energy and E-Mobility with more than 70 per cent and Simulation and System Design. Many come to Germany specifically for engineering studies. In the winter semester, for example, the English-language Bachelor's programme in Leisure and Tourism Management is also in high demand.
Most of the new students live in the Berufsförderungswerk Stralsund (BFW) in the immediate vicinity of HOST. Holzhausen is mainly home to exchange students who come for one or two semesters. The International Office provides international students with early support on issues such as accommodation and registration. Great support: students from the Buddy Programme, praises Lisa Arndt.
We have about 550 students from about 50 different countries. The majority come from Asian countries, 77 per cent from India, for example, but also from Iran, Pakistan and Syria. 16 per cent come from Europe, mainly from Ukraine, Portugal and Italy. There is a very high demand worldwide for study programmes in Germany," says Incoming Coordinator Lisa Arndt. However, they are currently most interested in English-language AI courses - an area in which HOST still has potential.
