The Freie Universität Berlin is the first German university to be admitted to the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS)

CGS draws its institutional membership from colleges and universities significantly engaged in graduate education, research, and scholarship culminating in the award of the master's or doctoral degree.

Currently, CGS membership includes over 470 universities in the United States and Canada, and 13 universities outside North America. Collectively, CGS institutions annual award over 95 percent of all U.S. doctorates and approximately 85 percent of all U.S. master's degrees.

Regular, Associate, and International Affiliate Institutional Members are universities and colleges which demonstrate continuing commitment to and support of graduate education and must display evidence of qualifications as prescribed by the Council.

CGS is the only national organization in the United States that is dedicated solely to the advancement of graduate education and research. The Council's mission is to advance graduate education in order to ensure the vitality of intellectual discovery and to promote an environment that cultivates rigorous scholarship.