What is anabin and how are universities listed in it?

anabin is the official German database on foreign qualifications and higher-education institutions; universities are listed with an institution status of H+, H+/- or H-. These codes describe the institution only. They do not mean your degree is recognised or that you will be admitted.

#What the statuses mean

• H+: recognised as a higher-education institution in its home country and regarded as one in Germany.
• H+/-: there is no single status for this type of institution, so it is assessed separately.
• H-: temporarily or permanently not regarded as a higher-education institution.

#What H+ does not mean

H+ only tells you that degrees from that institution can go through an equivalence assessment. It is not automatic recognition, not automatic admission and not a university entrance qualification (HZB). H codes are not used for school certificates: Turkish school certificates are classified by access routes, combined with the YKS result and placement.

#How to check

1. anabin → Institutionen: search for the university and note its status.
2. Hochschulabschlüsse → Abschlusstypen / Abschlüsse: see how the degree type is rated ("entspricht", "gleichwertig", "bedingt vergleichbar"). That is not a recognition decision either.

anabin is not complete; binding information comes only from the competent Land offices. For a master's or PhD, the university checks your degree individually.

Source: anabin guide · anabin Institutionen