The Europa-Universität Viadrina, founded in 1991 – just a year after German reunification and long before neighbouring Poland became part of the European Union – has one of the highest proportions of foreign students in Germany, writes Christopher F Schuetze for The New York Times.

Situated in Frankfurt an der Oder, a border town in the former East Germany, the Viadrina, as it is known, was founded “with a clear mission to build a bridge between East and West,” said Annette Bauer, a university spokesperson. The stated goal is to attract a third of the student body from abroad. Because of German laws against admission quotas, the actual number of foreigners studying at the university is about 23%, but slowly growing, Bauer said.

Although Germany has a reputation for sending many students overseas, it also hosts the third-largest number of foreign students in Europe, after Britain and France. German universities, which have good reputations and low or no tuition fees, have been attracting more students from Eastern Europe, especially since the region opened up politically.
Full report on The New York Times site