IU Internationale Hochschule - Fernstudium Reviews 

Choosing IU International Hochschule is an empowering step toward flexible, globally recognized higher education. It is driven primarily by its exceptionally adaptive online learning model, fully accredited programs and the freedom to balance demanding professional schedules with academic advancement. What truly convinces students to choose IU is its seamless digital infrastructure, combining interactive study scripts, AI-backed learning tools and 24/7 online exams that eliminate rigid classroom constraints. To thrive in IU's distance learning program, success relies on treating your education like a professional project: which means, you establish a strict weekly study routine, break down modules into manageable daily tasks, actively engage with the student community and tutors for clarity and leverage the flexibility to pace your exams according to your real-world workload rather than falling behind.

Flexibility is a great selling point ("study at your own pace," "on your own time," and so on) but I think it undersells the experience. What really stands out is the quality of the material itself, combined with the AI system that helps you study: generating diagrams, practice exercises, and mock exams. That's the part that makes it genuinely useful, not just flexible.

Don't bother wasting your time with their hiring process. They put you through a highly automated funnel that has zero human touch and completely contradicts itself at every step.

I applied for a Freelance Deep Learning Lecturer position. First, they hyped me up, told me my profile was impressive, and rushed me to fill out their long HR questionnaires and submit documents. Then they told me my files were sent to their Legal Department for review. Shortly after, without any explanation from the actual people I was talking to, their system just blasted me with a generic "the positions are filled" automated rejection template.

The whole process is completely disorganized. They act like they have an urgent need for lecturers, keep you interested for a long time, waste your time collecting your paperwork, and then let an automated system dump you. It feels like a mass-market sales funnel, not an academic institution. Completely unprofessional candidate experience.

I am currently a student at IU International University of Applied Sciences, and my experience has been extremely frustrating.

For several months now, I have been unable to get any meaningful response from the university. Emails are answered only with automatic replies, and phone calls go unanswered. There is effectively no way to communicate with support.

I have also experienced the following issues:

Exam results taking up to 12 weeks instead of the stated 6 weeks.
No invoices being sent as expected.
Academic questions not being answered.
After failing an exam three times and changing my study programme, I am now blocked from retaking the exam, without any clear explanation.

This lack of communication and transparency is unacceptable, especially for a paid online programme.

From what I’ve seen, I am not the only one facing these issues. Other students have also reported problems with customer support, delayed responses, and administrative confusion.

I am still hoping for a proper response and resolution, but at this point I feel completely ignored as a student.

I would strongly advise future students to carefully consider these issues before enrolling.

IU send out a request over freelancermap for new hires. I am a prof. software developer with 20 years of experience and told them that my daily price is 800 to 1200€. They told me "we will check the price" and then "lets have a telephone call". Within that a girl named Cortés Fernandez, Alicia was there to "offer me" 45€ / remote session of 45 minutes in which I should gave a in a class of 30 to 40 people.

She was not friendly and when I told here, that I feel my time is wasted as my price is so much higher what they offered, she was surpised and played a game like "I dont know your price".

Please avoid that company

I began my M.Sc. in Artificial Intelligence at IU International University in May 2020, full of ambition — but life had other plans. As a full-time Associate Professor in Electronics and Communication Engineering and an active postdoctoral researcher at Case Western Reserve University in the United States, carving out dedicated study time was a genuine struggle. The early semesters were fragmented, progress was slow, and there were moments I seriously questioned whether I could see this through.
But I did not give up. From 2024 onwards, I restructured my approach — one subject at a time, with discipline and intention. That deliberate pace transformed everything. I stopped rushing and started truly learning. By 2026, I had completed all modules and earned an overall grade of 2.4, a result I wear with pride given the circumstances under which it was achieved.
What made the biggest difference was the freedom IU's distance-learning model afforded me — to study across time zones, between lectures I was delivering, and around research deadlines. The AI use case projects, video and written assignments, and especially the UI/UX Elective Project pushed me to think beyond textbook theory and engage with real-world problem-solving in ways that directly enriched my academic teaching and research work.
The crown jewel of the entire journey was undoubtedly the thesis. Under the supervision of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gabriele Bleser-Taetz, I developed my research on smartphone-assisted AI for real-time driver drowsiness detection — a topic at the intersection of embedded systems, computer vision, and applied machine learning. Prof. Bleser-Taetz's mentorship was exceptional. She did not merely supervise; she shaped how I approach research strategy, literature synthesis, and academic rigor. Her guidance elevated both the quality of my thesis and my thinking as a researcher.
This degree has genuinely expanded how I think. It bridged my background in nanotechnology and VLSI with the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence — and it gave me language, frameworks, and confidence to work across both domains. I recommend IU to any working professional who is serious about learning, accepts that the journey may be non-linear, and understands that the effort they put in is exactly what they will get out.

Studying Business Administration at IU International University was one of the most challenging and rewarding chapters of my life. As a Fernstudent (distance learning student) and a mom, I learned very quickly that success isn’t just about grades or deadlines — it’s about determination, resilience, and balance.

When I started my program, I was full of excitement and curiosity about the world of business. I wanted to build a strong foundation in management, leadership, and entrepreneurship while still being present for my family. The flexibility of IU’s online study program made that possible. I could study from home, plan my schedule around my child, and keep moving forward at my own pace.

In my last year, life took another beautiful turn — I became pregnant again. It wasn’t easy balancing coursework, exams, and pregnancy, but I refused to give up. There were days when I was tired, overwhelmed, or doubting myself, but I reminded myself why I started: to show my children that with passion and perseverance, anything is possible.

Every module, assignment, and presentation became more meaningful because I wasn’t just studying for myself — I was studying for my family’s future. Crossing the finish line wasn’t only an academic achievement; it was proof that motherhood and education can go hand in hand.

Looking back, I’m deeply grateful to IU for giving me the flexibility and support I needed to make this dream come true. My journey taught me that strength often grows in the most challenging moments — and that it’s never too late, or too difficult, to invest in yourself and your goals.

Beste private Universität in Deutschland

Explanation was straight and easy to understand

It was all going well until...
I was expecting to graduate on July 29th, 2025. I had my thesis colloquium scheduled—my thesis advisor had given me approval a month prior—and all of a sudden, just two days before my dissertation, it was canceled. Without giving me any feedback, I was told I had to start my thesis all over again for a second attempt. On top of that, I now have to pay 7,440 euros for an extra year, since they will only allow me to submit my thesis again in January 2026.

This is outrageous. I have not received a single piece of support or feedback—my advisor doesn't reply to emails, nor does the exams office. This feels like a scam after two years of completing my master's coursework.

I’m very sorry this happened to me. Please take my experience seriously and do not enroll in this university. There are plenty of other, far better online universities out there.

Super modern, profis, just like any other uni, best!

The fact that I get to decide when I want to do what. And that I get to do everything at my own speed.

I'm a non-German studying a German degree. As a current student there I would say the content was not bad but it depends on the professors like any school. Depending on how far developed the program is, the better the content. I am taking product design there and for me personally, I did not expect so many papers. There's a lot of reading which is ok but what I found a little lacking is the instructions and clarity sometimes given. Of course, this degree is fairly new. Others could be much more established and structured.

One thing is you really have to learn how to navigate through their site and portal as well as all the additional apps and chats. It's much like a university but EVERYTHING is online. So you will get lost. There are a lot of discounts and free learning resources which are great (linkedin learning, student adobe pricing, AUTODESK suite without cost, travel student pricing, etc).

All this being said though my enrollment process has been atrocious. I've been conditionally enrolled waiting for my papers to be processed. The problem is it has been more than half a year and I still have no official enrollment. Their communication has been horrible, only contacting me when I am to pay tuition for the month. The only reason I knew I wasn't officially enrolled was because I couldn't print out my official enrollment paper. That was a month after submitting everything. After contacting them they told me what was missing so I sent those papers again expecting everything was resolved. I received no email stating they received my papers but I assumed they got them. I look for my enrollment papers and again can't print them. So I call and email again (some days it would be instant other times more than week before a response about the matter) and same response; other papers are missing. This has gone on from May until now when it's almost February. Without the official enrollment, they could still reject my application and i'd have paid for nothing. Also without the enrollment I can't submit anything. I waited it out this long hoping things would have been resolved by now but it's been a very frustrating experience with IU. I have written this out as well to them that without certainty of actually being enrolled, it is not justified to be paying for a service that is not being fulfilled.

I've decided to pause my degree and am contemplating to completely pullout of their school. It's hard to trust a school when they can't fulfill the minimum requirements of enrollment and only contact a student for payment.

One major problem I've heard with them is communication. Now I understand. It is easy to get in touch with the enrollment office (they want everyone) but trying to reach the finance office directly for clarification is impossible. I was there's no direct channel, you can only be transferred (and according to the girl I was on the phone with, is near impossible because of the backlog of calls) or if they are told internally to call back, which has so far not happened yet.

Perhaps legal action will have to be made if they insist on payment.

Edit: Surprisingly someone had actually called me back and has said she would dedicate herself to solving my issue agreeing also that it is really unacceptable that I have not received any enrollment and for poor communication. At least there are good people working within IU that care for their students if not those running the school themselves. As for the response it's quite sad they have to hide behind legalities without acknowledging any faults on their own. You can see their business ethics publicly here.

Guys, I am telling you: "It was the worst experience in my whole life".
I was so happy to start my second Master's at IU. I had a lot of plans for my future, I thought the University format would suit my lifestyle very well because I am working full-time so studying online was the best choice for me.

I started my way to IU with a lot of hope and happiness. All the documents were sent, and then I realized that I was registered in the German language even though I wanted to study in the English language.

Then I called them and they told me to fill out a form and it probably takes less than 2 weeks until my study program changes from German to English.
(Remember that I was in the trial month at that time).

The process took more than three weeks (not less than two weeks as that woman told me on the phone) and still, the documents and study materials were sent to me in German language!!! I was calling them every day and talking with many people on the same day. Nobody took care of my problem properly. In the end, I was crying on the phone because I was damaged mentally.

The trial month was almost over and I decided to deregister myself as nothing worked correctly (thanks to my husband because he was the one who reminded me and told me "If they cannot fix your problem in the first month, what about the next years...")

When I sent them my termination request, they sent me invoices. Invoices for what??? I don't really know! For a trial month? For an unclear chaos work?

Of course, I am not going to pay this money, but I am still totally damaged. My plan is ruined, and I am disappointed and furious. I am so damaged that I had to ask for a work break to heal myself...

I want to ask you guys to take more time and think a little bit more before registering here. Be sure that you are talking with the correct person on the phone who passes you all the information correctly and completely.

The paying and trial month is tricky. One of the women I talked to told me that the trial month is only for those who won't deregister after the trial month. If you want to continue you should even pay that month.

I hope you think a little bit more before entering this trap. And I hope that this review helps you to make a correct decision.

Regards,

My experience with IU has been amazing so far. I always wanted to do a masters course which was recognised and held good value while not quitting my job. I found this combination with IU online masters where the courses were quite practical, professors guided me whenever I got stuck and exams were also conducted on weekends, enabling me to not skip work.

I study civil engineering remotely at IU. The availability of the lecturers is really impressive. In most cases I get an answer on the same day when I have a question regarding the course material, exams etc.. Even on the weekends. Sometimes I wonder if they even get days off 😅
It's been a good experience so far and recently I got the opportunity for an interesting internship project with the help of the IU Career Services Office. I would definitely recommend my course of study at IU.

My experience so far has been great with IU. It has offered me a place to complete my education without having to compromise on the other things of my life. Because of IU. I had the option to consider switching my career and choose a field that would be more suitable for my future and become more independent

At first, I was a little afraid regarding the negative reviews. Now I can tell. Two months in this university, and it has been the best academic experience compared to in-person university. The courses provided are very rich in information, and very interesting. Plus, the tutors and administration are really friendly, responsive and helpful. This university gives a lot of opportunities, I can’t be enough thankful for that.