Nurnberg and Eintracht Braunschweig were relegated on the final day of the Bundesliga season Saturday, while Bayer Leverkusen clinched the last Champions League qualification place.
Joel Matip headed the Royal Blues in front early on before Roman Neustadter put Jens Keller's men firmly in the driving seat on the stroke of half-time.
Julian Draxler added a third before Josip Drmic, on his last appearance for Nurnberg, grabbed a consolation in the last minute.
There was still time for substitute Chinedu Obasi to add a fourth and seal Schalke's place in the Champions League group stage next season while Nurnberg faced up to a record eighth relegation from the top flight.
Nurnberg came into the game without several key players due to injury and suspension and, after suffering for most of the season with their best players, it was always going to be tough without them.
To make matters worse, they fell behind after only six minutes when Matip met Max Meyer's corner at the near post to head Schalke in front.
Eintracht Braunschweig return to the 2.Bundesliga after one season in the top-flight, finishing the campaign bottom of the table having suffered defeat in their last five league fixtures.
Goals from Sebastian Rudy, Roberto Firmino and Kevin Volland, who has received a call-up to Germany's World Cup squad, finished the season on a high for Hoffenheim who end the campaign comfortably in ninth place.
Jan Hochscheidt grabbed a consolation for Eintracht Braunschweig with a minute left, just the 29th goal of the campaign for the league's lowest scorers.
Leverkusen came from behind to beat Werder Bremen 2-1 and secure fourth place ahead of Wolfsburg, which finished fifth after beating Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-1.
Hamburger SV secured the relegation playoff place despite losing 3-2 at Mainz. Neither Nuremberg nor Braunschweig could capitalize. Nuremberg lost 4-1 at Schalke and Braunschweig stayed bottom after a 3-1 loss at Hoffenheim.
Robert Lewandowski scored twice in his last game for Borussia Dortmund, a 4-0 win at Hertha Berlin, to finish as the league's top scorer with 20 goals.
Already crowned champion Bayern Munich left it late to beat Stuttgart 1-0 and get its title celebrations underway, Hannover beat Freiburg 3-2, and Augsburg beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
