26 Best universities for Development Studies in North Rhine-Westphalia

Updated: March 02, 2025

Ranking by academic field

Below is a list of best universities in North Rhine-Westphalia ranked based on their research performance in Development Studies. A graph of 561K citations received by 23.7K academic papers made by 26 universities in North Rhine-Westphalia was used to calculate publications' ratings, which then were adjusted for release dates and added to final scores.

We don't distinguish between undergraduate and graduate programs nor do we adjust for current majors offered. You can find information about granted degrees on a university page but always double-check with the university website.

1. University of Bonn

Bonn

For Development Studies

#6 in Germany

#98 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 36%
Enrollment: 38,043
Founded: 1818

2. University of Cologne

Cologne

For Development Studies

#12 in Germany

#135 in Europe

Enrollment: 52,204
Male:Female: 39:61
Founded: 1388

3. RWTH Aachen University

Aachen

For Development Studies

#14 in Germany

#146 in Europe

Enrollment: 47,521
Founded: 1870

4. University of Bielefeld

Bielefeld

For Development Studies

#16 in Germany

#153 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 50%
Enrollment: 24,488
Founded: 1969

5. University of Duisburg - Essen

Essen

For Development Studies

#22 in Germany

#207 in Europe

Enrollment: 43,281
Founded: 2003

6. Ruhr University Bochum

Bochum

For Development Studies

#24 in Germany

#212 in Europe

Enrollment: 42,954
Founded: 1962

7. TU Dortmund University

Dortmund

For Development Studies

#26 in Germany

#222 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 59%
Enrollment: 34,616
Male:Female: 54:46
Founded: 1968

8. Heinrich Heine University of Dusseldorf

Dusseldorf

For Development Studies

#29 in Germany

#246 in Europe

Enrollment: 37,473
Male:Female: 42:58
Founded: 1965

9. University of Munster

Munster

For Development Studies

#35 in Germany

#266 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 14%
Enrollment: 43,728
Founded: 1780

10. University of Paderborn

Paderborn

For Development Studies

#48 in Germany

#342 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 60%
Enrollment: 19,110
Founded: 1972

11. Witten/Herdecke University

Witten

For Development Studies

#52 in Germany

#379 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 50%
Enrollment: 2,894
Founded: 1982

12. University of Wuppertal

Wuppertal

For Development Studies

#59 in Germany

#441 in Europe

Enrollment: 22,601
Founded: 1972

13. University of Siegen

Siegen

For Development Studies

#65 in Germany

#504 in Europe

Enrollment: 17,805
Founded: 1972

14. University of Hagen

Hagen

For Development Studies

#68 in Germany

#585 in Europe

Enrollment: 71,351
Founded: 1974

15. German Sport University Cologne

Cologne

For Development Studies

#82 in Germany

#761 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 30%
Enrollment: 6,000
Founded: 1947

16. Cologne University of Applied Sciences

Cologne

For Development Studies

#86 in Germany

#827 in Europe

Enrollment: 27,000
Founded: 1971

17. Aachen University of Applied Sciences

Aachen

For Development Studies

#90 in Germany

#851 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 51%
Enrollment: 13,671
Founded: 1971

18. University of Applied Sciences for Economics and Management

Essen

For Development Studies

#98 in Germany

#925 in Europe

Enrollment: 21,263
Founded: 1993

19. Munster University of Applied Sciences

Munster

For Development Studies

#106 in Germany

#993 in Europe

Enrollment: 15,000
Founded: 1971

20. Cologne Business School

Cologne

For Development Studies

#108 in Germany

#1008 in Europe

Enrollment: 1,123
Founded: 1993

21. Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences

Bielefeld

For Development Studies

#111 in Germany

#1037 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 60%
Enrollment: 8,633
Founded: 1971

22. Folkwang University of the Arts

Essen

For Development Studies

#112 in Germany

#1045 in Europe

Enrollment: 1,506
Founded: 1927

23. University of Applied Sciences and Arts

Dortmund

For Development Studies

#116 in Germany

#1068 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 68%
Enrollment: 14,373
Founded: 1971

24. Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences

Sankt Augustin

For Development Studies

#119 in Germany

#1091 in Europe

Enrollment: 8,000
Founded: 1995

25. University of Applied Sciences Dusseldorf

Dusseldorf

For Development Studies

#125 in Germany

#1138 in Europe

Enrollment: 11,170
Founded: 1971

26. Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences

Kleve

For Development Studies

#134 in Germany

#1199 in Europe

Acceptance Rate: 68%
Enrollment: 6,723
Founded: 2009

Closest to North Rhine-Westphalia states to learn Development Studies

State	Universities Unis	Best university country rank Best uni rank
Hesse	11	11
Rhineland-Palatinate	10	33
Lower Saxony	11	4
Bremen	3	20
Thuringia	4	45
Hamburg	7	2
Baden-Wurttemberg	18	1
Schleswig-Holstein	3	34
Brandenburg	13	7
Saxony	5	19
Bavaria	20	3
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	3	57

Economics subfields in North Rhine-Westphalia

Actuarial Science12

Econometrics and Mathematical Economics19

Environmental Economics12

Finance27

International Economics13

International Relations and Diplomacy6

International Trade14

Investment Banking and Stock trading14

Political Economy12