Unlike Germany's public universities, ESCP Berlin charges tuition at every level, for EU and non-EU students alike, because it is a privately funded, state-recognized business school rather than a state-funded one. Fees are set per programme and rise sharply from Bachelor to MBA level, and on some programmes non-EU applicants pay a higher rate than EU applicants.

There is no public-university-style semester contribution here. Instead, ESCP bundles an annual service fee of around 1,000 EUR into the tuition invoice, covering campus and student services rather than a citywide transport ticket.

Tuition here does not replace the proof-of-funds requirement either. For the student visa you still need to show about 11,904 EUR for the year, usually in a blocked account, on top of whatever tuition and service fees you pay directly to ESCP.

These are the deadlines for non-EU applicants, and at ESCP Berlin they are not a single date the way they are at most public universities. Each programme publishes its own deadline, and whether it is 'admission-restricted' or 'admission-free' changes which date applies; several programmes, including the Bachelor, describe admission as ongoing rather than tied to one cut-off.

ESCP has no DoSV-restricted (NC) programmes; selection is by the school's own ability test rather than a state quota.

Through ESCP's own admissions portal, not uni-assist; ESCP does not appear on uni-assist's list of participating Berlin universities. Applications carry a fee that varies by programme (around 60 EUR for the Bachelor, 130 to 180 EUR for Master's and MBA programmes for non-EU applicants), unlike the many public universities whose own portals charge nothing.

Open the ESCP Berlin programme finder at escp.eu

ESCP Berlin teaches its full portfolio in English: the Bachelor in Management, the Master in Management, several specialised Master's programmes (for example in Digital Project Management & Consulting, and Strategy & Digital Business), and the MBA in International Management. All ESCP degree programmes also require time at ESCP's other European campuses as part of the curriculum, so studying at Berlin is not a Berlin-only experience the way it is at most partner universities. You can study every programme without German, though everyday German still helps with housing, part-time work and the authorities.

IELTS Academic and TOEFL iBT are the standard, and the required score rises for the MBA. The Bachelor and Master in Management ask for IELTS 6.5, TOEFL iBT 90, or Cambridge First (FCE) at around 175 points, roughly CEFR B2. The MBA in International Management asks for a higher IELTS 7, TOEFL iBT 100, or Cambridge C1.

ESCP is the world's oldest business school, founded in Paris in 1819, and today runs as one institution across six European campuses: Paris, Berlin, London, Madrid, Turin and Warsaw. Its Berlin campus opened in 1985 after starting in Düsseldorf in 1975, and is state-recognized in Germany, meaning it can award its own degrees and doctorates rather than only foreign ones.

The Berlin campus's academic focus is entrepreneurship, sustainability and digitalisation, and it sits in Charlottenburg close to Berlin's dense scene of consulting, tech and corporate players, several of which (Accenture, Bain, Bayer, Siemens among them) work directly with the school. Almost every ESCP degree includes semesters at the school's other campuses, so a Berlin-based student typically also studies in at least one other European country, an experience unlike most single-campus partner universities on this list.