Guest Auditor Studies at the University of Stuttgart
The Guest Auditor Studies is a popular program in the city of Stuttgart and its metropolitan area. Every semester, up to 1100 people attend the numerous lectures, seminars and workshops. Everyone can be a guest auditor regardless of his or her ethnicity, age and profession.
There are no pre-structured study programs or certain modules for guest auditors. Auditors can freely choose whichever courses they like from our program.
The Guest Auditor Studies are a part of the Center for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning. If you are interested in becoming a guest auditor, you can get all information from here or you can make an appointment for a consultation.
In the beginning of every semester, we offer courses for new guest auditors.
What exactly does auditing a course involve?
A guest auditor is anyone who is not enrolled as a student at the University of Stuttgart but still would like to attend regular university courses. No qualification for university studies (such as a high school diploma) is required. All it takes for you to register is to submit the completed online formular [de] and to pay the auditing fees. Registering online allows a faster progress of your enrollment. The application is good for one semester at a time. Being admitted as an auditor does not, however, confer a legal right to participate in the chosen courses.
Offers for Refugees
Audit offerings are also open to refugees. The courses can facilitate getting to know Germany’s academic system with a view toward possibly studying at the University of Stuttgart.
Course Program
The printed program is available four weeks before the beginning of each semester. It contains every lecture, seminar and workshop guest auditors can visit. They include formats especially designed for guest auditors as well as numerous regular courses offered by the university’s institutes.
On request, we will sent the program to you by post.
Important information for guest auditors
The standard auditing fee of €150 per semester entitles you to visit a maximum of 10 semester hours (i.e., 5 two-hour events per week). The fee reduces to €40 for pupils, students from other universities, the jobless, welfare recipients, military and civilian service personnel, volunteers in the Voluntary Ecological or Social Year, and for the seriously disabled with at least a 50 percent disability.
Members of the “Society of Friends of the University of Stuttgart e.V” pay an auditing fee of €130 per semester with the discounted fee reduced to €30 per semester.
We only process the auditing applications after we have received the funds. Bank transfers must state the purpose and show the university bursar’s office as the payee, as follows:
- Payee: Universitätskasse Stuttgart
- Reference: Gasthörergebühr für Herrn/Frau Vorname Nachname, Beitrag (Auditing fee for Mr/Mrs first name last name, amount) sowie Wintersemester 2022/23 (and winter semester 2022/23)
- Name of Bank: Baden-Württembergischen Bank
- IBAN-Nr.: DE51 6005 0101 7871 5216 87
- SWIFT / BIC: SOLADESTXXX
To allow interested persons to sample events before registering, we intentionally set generous auditing application deadlines:
- Winter semester: September 1 to November 30
- Summer semester: March 1 to Mai 31
Since auditors are not enrolled as students at the University of Stuttgart, they cannot be admitted to examinations. In any event, credit points earned by auditing are not recognized by study programs or doctoral degree studies. However, we can certify participation.
ILIAS stands for “Integrated Learning, Information, and Work Cooperation System.” It is the University of Stuttgart’s online learning platform on which teaching and learning materials are stored for seminars and lectures. It permits course documentation such as scripts, literature, and presentations to be accessed and facilitates communication between participants. Learning materials are available 24/7 and can be easily reviewed after the events.
All auditors upon registration receive a code for use in setting up their ILIAS access for one semester. Extracurricular Studies provides specific training on how ILIAS works.
FAQ
Guest auditors are no members of the University of Stuttgart. They are not treated as regular students.
The program is available approximately four weeks before the start of every semester (winter semester: middle of September; summer semester: middle of March). You can find the printed program on campus City Center (buildings: K I, K II, canteen, library, Central Administration: Keplerstraße 7) and at the zlw (Azenbergstraße 16).
Alternatively, you can find the program online or make a request for delivery by post.
You may visit courses with a maximum of ten semester hours (SWS); as a rule, this allows you to visit five courses per week. (1 SWS = 45 minutes)
Generally, you can attend every course listed in our program. Please note that some courses require an additional registration via E-Mail. If you are interested in a course, which is not listed in our program, please contact the teacher directly.
Guest auditor can attend language courses, if there are openings. There are special deadlines for registration at the Language Center. If you would like to exclusively visit language courses, please register as a guest auditor only after you have been admitted to a language course.
Current information about registration at the Language Center
Guest auditors will not gain credit points and are not allowed to participate in examinations.
Student ID are reserved for enrolled student. Guest auditors can receive a guest auditor card, which does not entitle you to any benefits.
It is not advisable to get to the university by car, as the University of Stuttgart does not own any parking lots and multi-storey car parks are quite expensive. Therefore, it is sensible to use public transport. Walking from the main station to the Campus City Center takes around seven minutes. Use the S-Bahn to get to the Campus Vaihingen (station: Universität).
The library and the canteen are open to the public. At the canteen, you will have to pay guest prices.
I can't imagine life without the Uni anymore.
Comment made by an auditor for a survey on auditing carried out in 2012
Daniel Francis, M. A.
Head of the General Studies and Guest Auditor Studies
Karin Michel, M.A.
Gasthörerstudium, wissenschaftliche Hilfskraft