The Berlin-Brandenburg capital region is one of the most prolific centers of higher education and research in the world. It is the largest concentration of universities and colleges in Germany. The city has four public research universities and 27 private, professional and technical colleges (Hochschulen), offering a wide range of disciplines. Access to the German university system is tuition free.
175,000 students were enrolled in the winter term of 2014/15. Around 20% have an international background. Student figures have grown by 50% in the last 15 years. The Humboldt Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin) has 34,000 students, the Freie Universität Berlin (Free University of Berlin, FU Berlin) has 34,000 students, and the Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin) around 30,000 students. The Universität der Künste (UdK) has about 4,000 students and the Berlin School of Economics and Law has enrollment of about 10,000 students.
40 Nobel Prize winners are affiliated to the Berlin-based universities.
The Prussian Academy of Arts (German: Preußische Akademie der Künste) was an art school set up in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and later king in Prussia. It had a decisive influence on art and its development in the German-speaking world throughout its existence. It dropped 'Prussian' from its name in 1945 and was finally disbanded in 1955 after the 1954 foundation of two separate academies of art for East Berlin and West Berlin in 1954. Those two separate academies merged in 1993 to form Berlin's present-day Academy of Arts.