How international students strengthen the German economy
2025-08-28 International students make a significant economic contribution to Germany. According to an IW study commissioned by the DAAD, each year's intake generates around eight times more revenue for the public sector in the long term than the state invests. Many are already working while studying. Two of them are Vignesh Mallya and Raj Chaudhari.
Vignesh Mallya commuted between his job in Hamburg and the lecture halls in Lüneburg: he is a data analyst at a French aircraft manufacturer: ‘The analyses help management make decisions, for example,’ explains the student. He studied information science and engineering in India and came to Germany a year ago. He found out about the University of Lüneburg online: ‘I looked at reviews from other students. Leuphana was very highly rated: a diverse curriculum, good student-teacher ratio, and we can study in English,’ he says. With more than 500 applications for 30 places, the Master's programme in Management and Data Science is one of the most popular courses at Leuphana. In addition, all management programs offered by LSMT through the Graduate School have received the prestigious AACSB accreditation.
Students deal with topics such as intelligent data analysis, artificial intelligence, machine learning, handling big data, formal foundations and theories. His fellow student Raj Chaudhari studied computer science and already worked as a quality assurance engineer in India.
Today, he advises doctoral students in engineering and explains how they can evaluate their data most effectively. Even before moving to Europe, both knew that they wanted to work in Germany. That is why Lüneburg's proximity to Hamburg was also a deciding factor: ‘Job opportunities are better in a big city,’ says Vignesh Mallya.
Raj Chaudhari benefits from his work on campus and the networking opportunities: ‘Leuphana offers a lot for international students: joint activities, German courses and support in settling in Germany,’ he says.
Both want to stay in Germany after graduating: ‘We like the country and are learning the language. The working conditions here are very good and the region is attractive to us,’ they both say.
Their impression is consistent with the findings of the IW study, which states that Germany is one of the most attractive countries in the world for studying, with a high retention rate. Investing in the education of foreign students pays off for Germany, as the study shows: The approximately 80,000 first-year students in 2022 alone will contribute around 15.5 billion euros net over their lifetime, according to the results. If 40% of graduates remain in the country, the training costs will have paid for themselves just three years after graduation.