You would like to study at a university abroad with which RWTH Aachen University resp. the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering does not have any partnerships? In that case there is the possibility to study at those universities as a “free mover” – given that your potential host university accepts students as visiting students apart from existing exchange programs (which does not have to be the case)!

As a “free mover“, you will primarily have to deal will additional organizational work: choosing the university. Here you will merely have any limitations in contrast to students who will go abroad with an exchange program – but it requires major research work on your part. We have some tips for you on our pages on Planning a Study Abroad.

Furthermore, you must consider that you might have to pay tuition fees – depending on the destination your own saving will hardly be sufficient to cover those.

As a "free mover", we recommend that you make an effort to get a scholarship of external institutions - e.g.

• the German Academic Exchange Service,
• the Fulbright Commission (USA),
• the German National Academic Foundation,
• political foundations or cultural institutions.

Also BAföG for study abroad (Funding according to the German Education and Training Assistance Act) might be a possibility – even if you do not receive BAföG at home! Another possibility is the Education Loan of the Federal Government resp. the KfW Bank.

The International Office provides a detailed table of supporting institutions as well as further hints regarding scholarships and financing the study abroad.