“I personally don’t think that the hours you are allowed to work as an international student is amongst the most crucial factors for choosing Germany as a study destination,” says Yvonne Hall, Head of International Relations at Mannheim Business School. “Students will ask about it, but other things are at least as important to them or even more important,” citing language requirements as the factor that international students in Germany most often ask about.

Andreza André da Rocha, Senior Career Development and Employer Relations Manager at ESMT Berlin, largely agrees. "The prospect of being able to work a considerable number of hours is a very good selling point for universities,” she says, adding that an increase in the limit could ‘potentially’ attract more international students. However, she too says that it’s only one ingredient of a much bigger cocktail of factors that attract students to a country.

That cocktail of factors is probably the biggest reason why the policy’s effectiveness is so difficult to judge. Just take the curious case of Australia. In January 2022, the government removed the cap on the number of hours that international students were allowed to work, which sparked warnings over unintended side effects.

On the face of things, the change did seem to spark an increase in international student numbers, going from 501,312 in 2022 to 644,358 the following year. However, that increase may also have been down to relaxed visa regulations and international students returning to the country after COVID restrictions were lifted. The country subsequently reversed their decision in July 2023, but student visa approvals still went on to hit record numbers in late 2024.

Even if it’s difficult to say with any certainty whether this move boosts international student numbers, one thing does seem certain: students typically take advantage of being able to work alongside their studies. According to research carried out by the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA), 77 percent percent of international students work while they study, compared to 68 percent percent of home students.

Another study by the UK’s Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) showed that part-time work was more likely to be done to pay bills and reduce debt rather than career development. These figures seem to align with those of other countries. Hall says around 80-90 percent of Mannheim students have a job, while ESMT Berlin student Huy Vu estimates around two-thirds of his classmates work alongside their studies.

"I think the right to work for a certain amount of hours per week is definitely an advantage,” he tells QS Insights Magazine. “With 20 hours per week, and with the minimum wage in Berlin, you can earn enough money for bills, food and other things." He also notes that higher education in Germany is often free or heavily subsidised, so being able to work is even more valuable to international students.

Although Vu doesn’t just work for financial reasons, his work at a Berlin AI startup is closely related to his Master’s in Global Management, the money certainly doesn’t hurt. "I wanted to be more independent from my family so that I could have more financial stability and freedom."

The idea of financial freedom isn’t exactly an old one, but it has been shunted further into the spotlight since the global cost of living crisis started. Some students are starting to feel the pinch. da Rocha says that students’ decision to work a side job is partly motivated by an increase in the cost of living in Germany, and it’s a similar story a few oceans away in Auckland, New Zealand.

“Living in Auckland can be quite expensive, and while I do receive support from my family, I also want to earn my own income,” says Yan Xuan, an international student at Massey University. She welcomes the increase in working hours. “Many part-time jobs on the market now offer 25-hour shifts, which is quite frustrating for those of us on student visas limited to 20 hours per week. If I were allowed to work 25 hours, I probably would.”

However, Xuan says concerns over graduate employability are likely to supersede in-study working hours. “The change might have been more attractive before they realised how bleak the job market in New Zealand currently is,” she laments.

Like Vu, Xuan also highlights the career benefits of working alongside your studies, saying work experience is ‘both valued and often expected in the job market here.’ But as the cost of living crisis deepens, so too may the need for students to work more hours to fund their education. It means that many industry figures are wary of further increases in the number of hours that students are allowed to work.

"There has to be a balance,” says da Rocha. “And there's a risk if students need to take advantage of this 20 hours per week from the start of their programme because they need to finance their studies." At ESMT, staff often suggest to students that they focus on their studies for the first half of the programme because of the academic workload.