GERMANY - ISEP Phillips-Universitat: International Studies

To be eligible to participate in this program, students must meet the following requirements:

• Good academic and judicial standing during time of application AND time of participation in program
• Undergraduates must have completed at least two semesters of study at Lake Forest College AND have junior status or higher before participation. 
• At least 18 years of age by the program’s departure date. 
• Be able to stay at the host program for the duration of the semester, including through the exam and travel periods
• Minimum GPA of 2.75.  

Students applying to ISEP must apply for an Exchange option (in any country) as a first choice but may apply to a Direct option as a back-up. Direct options may have an additional cost (see a financial section for more information).

The city of Marburg, on the river Lahn in western Germany, is surrounded by forests and is situated about 45 miles north of Frankfurt-am-Main, where you can take a plane or train to virtually anywhere in the world. It is one of the few early medieval cities of almost unchanged character.

To learn more about the visa process for this country, please visit the ISEP Country Handbook for Germany. 

The University of Marburg is not only a German university steeped in tradition, it is also the world’s oldest university, founded in 1527 as a Protestant university. The Uni Marburg – as locals often refer to the Philipps-Universität - has been a place of research and teaching for nearly five centuries.

ISEP-Direct International Undergraduate Studies Program (IUSP): No previous German language is required for this intensive German language program available for all levels. Choose additional electives from a selection of regular university courses taught in English. ISEP-Direct program includes excursions to Berlin and other exciting, important historical sites as well as special evening lectures on cultural topics.

Class descriptions are posted online later than what many colleges and universities outside of Germany are accustomed to. The reason for this lies in the differing academic calendars. The classes for the spring semester in Marburg are published in January; classes for the fall semester in Marburg are published in June. We recommend looking at classes from the previous academic year to get a feel for what classes will be offered in the corresponding semester of the current academic year.  

Marburg offers an International Undergraduate Studies Program (IUSP) which allows a student to spend a semester studying intensive German language alongside a selection of regular university courses taught mainly in English. Students may choose from courses taught in a variety of fields with an international spectrum of concentration. No previous German language is required since the language courses are taught at the beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. The IUSP program is offered during both the fall (early September to mid-December) and spring (early March to mid-June) semesters. Students can apply for a semester or full year placement. Included in the ISEP-Direct fee are health insurance coverage and a cultural program with excursions and weekend trips to important historical and cultural sites. For additional information, please visit the IUSP website.

No previous German language is required. Language courses are taught at all levels. The first 6 weeks of the IUSP Program are language intensive paired with a history and culture course.

Courses

The International Undergraduate Study Program (IUSP) takes courses from the university’s regular course catalog. These are lectures of two hours per week, mostly held in English.

Important: Each lecture, whether held in English or German, is being supported by tutorials (obligatory!) in English with four hours per week, especially for IUSP students.

In the tutorials, the students are working on the contents of the lecture, not only of the first eight weeks the IUSP participants are staying but also the contents of the second half of the German semester. In addition, the tutors work more deeply on the topic with the students and deepen their knowledge.

The IUSP students do presentations and written work on the topics according to the respective lecture and tutorial. Generally, marks are given for oral work (presentations, performance in class etc.; 60% of the mark) and written work (reports, bibliographies, homework, essays etc.; 40% of the mark).

Academic Environment and Teaching Style

Please understand that the academic system is quite different. Classes are usually lecture-based, instead of discussion or group work. Classes are often much larger than those found at Lake Forest College. Grades are based heavily, at times almost entirely, on one end-of-term exam, though some courses will also offer a midterm.  Professors are often more formal than those in the United States.

All courses/modules may have prerequisites.  Some departments may have limitations on numbers of courses that can be taken within or outside it.  Be aware of these limitations.

A full course load entails 60 ECTS (or “Leistungspunkte” (LP)) credits a year or 30 per semester. 

To Earn 4 Lake Forest credits, students must take 23 ECTS credits

To Earn 3 Lake Forest credits, students must take 17 ECTS credits.

The number of credits listed here is estimated, and GEO will work with you, your advisor, and the registrar to ensure you are earning enough credits to keep you on track for graduation.

The University of Marburg is not only a German university steeped in tradition, it is also the world’s oldest university, founded in 1527 as a Protestant university. The Uni Marburg – as locals often refer to the Philipps-Universität - has been a place of research and teaching for nearly five centuries.

Marburg has approximately 86,000 residents. With 20,000 students and 6,000 people working for the university, the saying goes that, while other cities may have a university, Marburg is a university. The majority of students in Marburg come from all over Germany. The Philipps-Universität also has more than 30 international partnerships and exchange agreements with other colleges and universities worldwide. There are some 2,000 scientists and scholars teaching and performing research at the university in Marburg, and more than 400 of them are professors and university lecturers. 

ORIENTATION

Students should always inform their host ISEP coordinator of their arrival time, which should be during regular business hours (M-F). Germany has a safe and reliable network of public transportation which will take students from the airport to their host site easily and most people in Germany will speak fluent English. 

For a detailed description and schedule of orientation, please click here. 

More info will also be sent to students with the letters of acceptance. For the IUSP program, there will be a 2-day Orientation Program which will provide assistance in the accomplishment of all formalities connected with the opening of a bank account, taking out a health insurance policy, or the recognition of an existing foreign health insurance, assistance with the authorities, finding one’s way around Marburg etc.

STUDENT ACTIVITIES

But there is more to life than just work. For this reason, the Philipps-Universität also promotes other talents. The language center offers qualified courses as well as a self-study center. The university leisure sports program offers more than 30 different disciplines including numerous water sports at the university boathouses on the Lahn River and Eder Lake, as well as martial arts and disease prevention classes with Yoga and Shiatsu. In addition, the guesthouse Hirschegg, which is owned by the Marburg University Association, can be used for skiing and hiking trips in the Austrian Alps.

As in sports, so in music: students and staff sing together in the uniCHOIR or play music together in the Student Symphony Orchestra (SSO), the Young Marburg Philharmonic or the student Big Band. The music house in the botanical garden can be used for practice. And the more eloquent speakers of the university meet in the Marburg debating club.

Those who prefer to enjoy culture passively can visit the university museums and exhibitions: the art museum, the antiques and casts collections, the mineralogical, religious and ethnological exhibitions as well as the “Anatomicum” museum. The main tourist attraction, however, is the castle. It is Germany’s largest secular Gothic building still in existence, and it contains the University Museum of Cultural History. The old and new botanical gardens do not only attract visitors in the summer months. Tropical greenhouses and botanical exhibitions can be visited all year round.

Students are housed in single-occupancy rooms in residence halls run by the Studentenwerk, the official student organization.  Meals are not included.  Insurance is included in the program fee.

For all approved programs for guaranteed financial aid transferability, students pay their Lake Forest College tuition plus a program fee. The program fee for a semester with the ISEP Exchange program includes orientation, on-site director, college fees, housing, and a stipend to cover the equivalent of 19/meals per week.

Here is an estimated budget for the Fall 2019/Spring 2020 programs:

Tuition rates and program fees are subject to change each year, but this information was up-to-date as of February 2019. We will notify applicants, and update this page if the program fee or other estimates change.

You can discuss with Financial Aid your specific aid package and your expected family contribution.

Deposits to other programs, if required, are paid by the student to the host program, and will appear as a credit on your study abroad term bill from the College.

Keep in mind that you may spend more or less in certain areas like personal expenses, travel, meals, or airfare, depending on exchange rates and your own spending habits. Classroom or lab fees are not included in this estimate and will depend on your course registration choices.  

Don’t forget to apply for scholarships! A great listing can be found here.