University of Applied Sciences - HTW Berlin vs IU International University of Applied Sciences vs GISMA Business School vs Steinbeis University - Schools of Next Practices vs Berlin School of Business and Innovation - BSBI

Side-by-side comparison from 276 verified student reviews. Scan one row at a time — winners are highlighted

Quick verdict
Higher overall rating: Forward College (4.70)
University of Applied Sciences - HTW Berlin: wins 0/7 categories
IU International University of Applied Sciences: wins 0/7 categories
GISMA Business School: wins 0/7 categories
Steinbeis University - Schools of Next Practices: wins 0/7 categories
Berlin School of Business and Innovation - BSBI: wins 0/7 categories
Forward College: wins 7/7 categories
University of Europe for Applied Sciences: wins 0/7 categories
Comparing
Best programme: Applied Computer Science
Best programme: MBA
Best programme: International Marketing
Best programme: Business
Best programme: MBA
Paris, France
4.70
Top
Read more reviews
35 reviews
×
Best programme: Business and Management
Best programme: Bachelor of Arts in Digital Media Arts
Category ratings
Facilities
3.91
4.23
3.71
4.25
3.90
4.47
Win
3.00
Location
4.00
4.39
4.14
3.75
4.14
4.84
Win
3.60
Professors
4.00
4.43
4.21
4.25
3.81
4.89
Win
3.20
Internationality
4.19
4.45
4.29
4.50
3.98
4.51
Win
4.00
Student life
4.04
4.10
4.08
3.75
3.86
4.62
Win
3.00
Value
3.98
4.32
4.00
3.75
3.77
4.57
Win
2.80
Accommodation
3.88
3.70
3.77
2.75
3.21
4.29
Win
1.40
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • +Supportive environment and academic resources
  • +Vibrant campus life and social engagement
  • +Opportunities for personal growth and development
  • +Flexible online learning and 24/7 exam availability
  • +Modern, intuitive digital platform for easy access to materials
  • +Practical, real-world aligned content and responsive support
  • +Supportive professors and quality curriculum
  • +International focus and career relevance
  • +Friendly faculty and good learning environment
  • +Excellent program structure and well-prepared faculty
  • +Practical, industry-focused learning with interactive opportunities
  • +Flexible study options and a supportive, inclusive environment
  • +Comprehensive programs and extracurriculars
  • +Excellent student support and guidance
  • +Balanced study-work-life mode
  • +International and diverse community.
  • +Interactive and engaging learning methods.
  • +Opportunities for personal growth and broader perspectives.
  • +Hands-on learning and practical application focus
  • +International and multicultural environment
  • +Personalized attention and smaller class sizes
Cons
  • -Poor quality instruction and unhelpful teachers
  • -Lack of administrative and management support
  • -Outdated facilities and resources
  • -Delayed grading and slow response times from administration.
  • -Poor and unhelpful student support services.
  • -Lack of timely academic guidance and feedback for online students.
  • -Administrative and management issues cause significant frustration.
  • -Lack of refund processing and poor communication are major concerns.
  • -Administrative and management issues, including poor communication and lack of support.
  • -Limited professional development opportunities and weak industry connections.
  • -Perceived low quality of the learning experience relative to cost.
  • -Administrative and management issues cause problems.
  • -Poor teaching quality and academic support are prevalent.
  • -Lack of diversity and perceived favoritism are significant concerns.
  • -Administrative and management issues cause frustration.
  • -Outdated facilities and equipment are a significant drawback.
  • -The curriculum lacks relevance and practical application.
  • -Administrative and management issues, including poor organization and miscommunication.
  • -Outdated teaching methods and inadequate facilities.
  • -Lack of academic integrity and student support.
Rating summary
What students say

Overall, the university garners positive feedback with its strongest area being **Internationality**, scoring 4.19. Student life also performs well at 4.04. Areas with slightly lower, though still respectable, ratings include **Facilities** at 3.91 and **Accomodation** at 3.88. Professors, location, and value all received a solid 4 or close to it, indicating a well-rounded student experience.

Across surveyed categories, this institution demonstrates notable strengths in **Internationality** (4.45) and **Professors** (4.43), indicating a highly globalized and academically strong environment. The **Location** (4.39) and **Value** (4.32) also receive positive marks. The weakest area is **Accomodation**, with a rating of 3.70, suggesting this is the primary concern for students.

This institution performs strongest in Internationality, with a rating of 4.29. Professors and Location also receive high marks, both above 4.14. Conversely, Facilities and Accomodation are the weakest areas, scoring 3.71 and 3.77 respectively. Student Life and Value are rated solidly around 4.

This university receives its highest marks in Internationality, scoring a strong 4.5. Facilities and Professors are also highly rated at 4.25. Location and Student Life are solid performers, both receiving 3.75. However, Accomodation stands out as a weaker area with a score of 2.75. Overall, the university presents a mixed but generally positive picture, with particular strengths in its global reach and academic resources.

This university garners its highest marks for Internationality (4.05) and Location (4.02). Facilities also score well at 3.98. Conversely, Accomodation is the lowest rated area, receiving a 3.27. Student Life and Value share a 3.83 rating, while Professors are rated 3.88. Overall, the university demonstrates a solid, though not perfect, performance across these metrics.

This institution generally receives strong ratings across multiple aspects. Professors and location are particularly well-regarded, achieving scores near the top. Student life and internationality also score highly. While most areas are positive, facilities represent the weakest point among the surveyed categories, scoring notably lower than the other metrics.

This institution demonstrates notable strengths in **internationality**, receiving a high rating of 4. Conversely, **accommodation** stands out as a significant area for improvement, with the lowest score of 1.4. Other aspects like location and professors show moderate performance.

Reviews summary
Highlights

Approximately 98% of reviews are positive, highlighting enjoyable campus life, supportive environments, modern facilities, and ample opportunities for social engagement and personal development. A small amount of negative feedback points to inconsistent teaching quality and interpersonal issues.

~95% of reviews are positive, praising flexibility and online system. ~5% of reviews mention issues with grading delays and poor staff communication.

With an average rating of 4.14/5, ~86% of reviews are positive, praising quality education and helpful faculty. Approximately 14% of feedback mentions administrative issues.

Around 75% of reviews are positive, praising structured modules, quality teaching, and a good learning environment. The remaining 25% express concerns about cost, instructor quality, and limited professional opportunities.

Approximately 74% of reviews are positive, highlighting a good program range, helpful advisors, and a favorable fee structure. Around 18.6% are negative, citing unprofessionalism, lack of academic support, and poor management.

All 35 reviews are positive (100%), with an average rating of 4.66/5. Students praise the international environment and interactive learning, noting personal development opportunities. No negative feedback was received.

Reviews indicate a 3/5 average rating, with ~60% positive feedback highlighting practical, hands-on learning and a multicultural environment. Negative feedback, ~40%, points to poor organization, miscommunication, and outdated teaching methods.

Rating distribution
5★
4%
63%
57%
25%
53%
66%
0%
4★
85%
26%
21%
50%
16%
34%
60%
3★
9%
6%
7%
0%
12%
0%
0%
2★
0%
2%
7%
0%
7%
0%
20%
1★
2%
3%
7%
25%
12%
0%
20%
Most useful review
Most liked
A university that takes away its student's spirit

Project management teacher fails people and tells them straight into their face it’s because she doesn’t like them. The Law teacher had us do presentations and didn’t even do one single class in a year. Ethics teacher claims that women deserve to get sexually assaulted if their dress is an inch too short. The Economics teacher does not speak English even though the major is taught in it. Half the students are internationals without German coming to Berlin to study, yet most “International” subjects are talking only about Germany and giving presentations in German. There is nothing applied about this university, it is all old theory. Marketing classes did not even include advertising, social media, digital media or anything more relevant in the past decade. Same for other subjects. The administration is disorganised. The international student office is always on holidays and never replies. The administration does not answer at all until you send your e-mails to their bosses. Due to the error OF THE ADMINISTRATION, they did not want to count my two semesters abroad until I fought them for seven months and emailed everyone at school when suddenly it was a matter of one document. One thesis supervisor steals his students' work for his own publications and has plenty of lawsuits. The other master’s supervisor did not answer any of the e-mails during the writing, except for one which said ‘I don’t know, google it”. There is so much more I could say. This school is a disaster and if you are reading this review DO NOT GO HERE, they really don’t care about their students. Neither does the school administration, nor the teachers. If at least one person decides not to go there due to this review I already did a good deed. Try HWR, Free University, Humboldt, or anything else. It was a horrible experience that made me not want to continue educating myself for at least a few years until I can forget all those horrible moments and people (except some single people and students)

The best university in the world

My experience with IU is very wonderful and exceptional. The learning process is smooth and easy especially for online students and the exams are well tailored to test your knowledge on what you have been learning. It is quite great indeed.

Msc international business management

The MSc in international business management has the main subject like finance and risk management. International economics, and research methods and scientific work, which helps students in business.

Not worth the educational investment

As a professional learner and international student, I find it expensive with low quality of overall learning journey. The courses / subjects offer good insights but not all instructors / lecturers meet students learning needs. As compared to other universities, they don’t have alumni network, company partnerships or purposive professional activities for their students. It’s also difficult to navigate their study program because nobody responds timely (or worst you’ll be completely disregarded unless it’s about invoice or tuition payments) to inquiries or concerns in emails and all contact numbers in the emails are unreachable. It’s also common that wrong class schedules or no class schedules are communicated - making you miss classes unintentionally. With all the issues and concerns I’ve had from my admission to my thesis, I need to keep on chasing someone to be answered vaguely or be passed on somebody else. They have a systematic issue in managing student affairs and communications.

BSBI has got very good advisor system

My name is Ismail and I recommend BSBI for every student. They have really helped me throughout my online application process especially the Student Advisor Teja sree sikkem, in fact she is such a sweet person. Please contact her if you want to join BSBI, she is the best and guides you in each and every step in the admission process

Great modern university approach

I am currently a 3rd year student at Forward College and I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would recommend it to other students. The interactive approach of Forward where questions, debate, and discussion were encouraged enhanced my learning so much and I feel like I genuinely enjoyed every class. Having the experience of living in 3 different cultures, surrounded by people from all over the world made this experience even more special and helped me develop and grow in so many ways. Another aspect I have loved are the professors. Speaking with friends at other university I am so grateful to have teachers that actually know us, are excited to teach and interact with us, and will always take the time to help you.

Disaster Programme

Throughout my Studies, in the Communication Design Course at this university located in Berlin, I have experienced a lot of problems. The university is very poorly organized, there is constant miscommunication between staff and students. It is very hard to come in contact with the university over email or phone, and most of the time your issue is never resolved. An excuse they often times use, is that they are understaffed, or it’s the students' fault. I think the campus in Berlin is kind of scam, because when applying or looking up this University the only photos you can see are from their facility located in Hamburg. Which is a much nicer facility than the one in Berlin. Definitely visit before signing any contracts. When I joined the university I expected at least one course to provide the necessary skills and information for this course. There was no introductory class for how to use Adobe software, no tutorial classes on any of the skills we needed during our studies. This is very much a do it yourself at home Programme. It is very hard to get help from the staff as they are often very misleading as no information is communicated to them. I have graduated 2 months ago and I still have no received a diploma.

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