Recognition of foreign degrees and certificates

You must submit your foreign certificates as part of your application. The Student Office will check whether they are equivalent to German educational qualifications in accordance with § 35 (1) sentence 6 LHG.

The equivalence or non-equivalence determines which type of entrance examination you will be assigned to. Classification into the aptitude or talent examination is carried out in accordance with § 58 (2) No. 7 LHG and/or § 58 (2) No. 11 LHG.

When submitting your qualifications with your application documents, please note that

• all qualification documents must be certified (NO original certificates!)
• an official English or German translation of the qualification certificates is required if the qualification document does not already include an English or German version
• Applicants from South Korea: additional proof of the College Scholastic Ability Test
• Applicants from China, India*, Vietnam: additional APS certificate (simple copy sufficient)

*Currently (as of September 2025), applicants from India are not required to submit an APS certificate or APS certificate if:

• the highest-level university degree relevant for assessment comes from a country other than India;
• proof of a previously passed assessment test is available;
• applicants can provide evidence of a scholarship from Germany or the EU.

German applicants who hold a foreign higher education entrance qualification must also submit their certificate to the Regional Administrative Authority (Regierungspräsidium ) in Stuttgart – Certificate Recognition Office (Zeugnisanerkennungsstelle) – for verification of equivalence with the German general higher education entrance qualification (Allgemeine Hochschulreife) prior to applying.

An application to the Academy or any other art or music university in the state of Baden-Württemberg is only possible after receiving a written confirmation of recognition. A certified copy of this confirmation must be included with the application documents. Recognition by the Stuttgart State Academy itself is not possible.