Main schools and universities

The idea of competition is something that does not exist amongst the German institutions: education is free everywhere, and the quality standards are generally equal. German students will normally apply to the university or the Fachschschule in their Land without looking at other univesities in the country.
However, because the search for excellence is becoming more important, certain newspapers are publishing ranks which are often debatable.
Certain institutions do benefit from a well established reputation such as: the technical universities of Braunschweig, Berlin, Darmstadt, Claustahl, Karlsruhe, Aix-la-Chapelle and Munich are known for the engineering sciences and the University of Hohenheim is known for agronomy.
For the political sciences, the OSU of Berlin is well-respected, and the Universities of Mannheim and Cologne for management.