Funding your stay in Germany - Cost Breakdown

It is rather tricky to write an accurate guide about how much money one needs. After all you can always buy that latest console or go overboard on summer shopping. We at iStudy are ourselves so diversified in our expenditures that even our ‘mathletes’ couldn't come up with a reasonable average. So we decided to take a borderline approach which will allow for a contented yet budget lifestyle. Whenever we mention any cost, we will also mention the rational minimum and maximum boundaries. The minimums will represent a below average lifestyle while the maximums will represent a 'well-to-do-for-a-student' life.

Accommodation Costs

There are several types of accommodation possible for students during their stay in Germany.

Accommodation at a Student Hostel

• Single rooms on one floor (Wohnheim) with shared kitchen, bath and toilets. The rent depends upon the location and city. At bigger cities like Munich and Hamburg the rent is a tad higher than their smaller counterpart. Rent varies between €170 and €250 with €200 being the median.
• Single room in a shared Flat (Wohngemeinschaft/WG) – self contained houses with two to six rooms with shared kitchen, bath and toilet. Again the rent depends upon city and location and varies between € 200 - € 260. 
• Appartments – Single apartments with separate mini kitchen, bath and toilet. Maximum rent € 260, minimum € 180. Most of the time € 220 – € 260.
• Appartments – Double apartments with two or more rooms and separate utility rooms rented to students with accompanying spouse/children or students with disabilities/chronic illness. Rent varies between € 320 – € 480.

Private Accommodation

Private accommodation means renting an apartment or house from a private owner. There are many types of accommodation available, starting from single studio apartments to large independent houses. The rent varies widely depending upon the location, size and quality of housing. You can expect anything between € 250 and € 600. Renting a house from a private owner can be a bit complicated for first timers so it is a good idea to stick to the student hostels in the beginning and move on to private housing as you familiarize yourself with the local conditions.

Summary

Type of Accommodation	Suitable for	Cost in Euro			Depends on
		Min	Max	Avg
Single room on one floor (Wohnheim)	Single person	170	250	200	City, Strategic location, Facilities.
Single room in shared flat (Wohngemeinschaft)	Single person	200	260	240	City, Location, Facilities.
Appartments – Single	Single person	180	260	230	City, Availability, Demand, Facilities
Appartments – Double	Married/Family	320	480	400	Availability, Furniture, Condition, Location
Private Housing  - without furniture	Single	250	350	250	Availability, Location, City
Private Housing – without furniture	Family	400	600	450	Availability, Location, City

There is always a “caution money” which must be paid in advance together with first month’s rent. In student hostels the caution money is usually equal to two months’ rent. For private housing the amount is negotiated with the land owner, but expected to be between one to three months of rent.

An increasing number of student hostels provide high speed (>>5 Mbps) broadband internet connection free of cost (supported by university). However in some places you have to arrange it yourself. See below for the costs.

Private houses and some student apartments may come unfurnished. You can retain the leftover furniture from the previous tenant (if any), but must take responsibility of disposing them at your own discretion when you leave. This is done by calling the waste disposal management of your city (look for the number at Yellow Pages – Gelbe Seiten) and fixing an appointment for pickup.

Tuition Fees

In some states the universities charge a tuition fee of approximately € 500 per semester. Fortunately the matter is subjected to severe debate at the parliament, and starting from winter semester 2011, most of the states agreed to remove the tuition fees.

However there is a social contribution fee for social facilities charged by the student administration (Studentenwerk). The Studentenwerk arranges discounted food at the student cafeteria, manages halls of residence, sport facilities etc. The current social fee is about € 230 and includes the semester ticket which allows you to use the public transport usually for the entire state. (German states)

Following is a summary of the fee structure at the different states of Germany. It will be wise to check the location of your university (in Google maps) to determine if your university has a tuition fees. You can always find the details of the tuition fees at your university’s website.

Summary of tuition fee by state

Current fees		Discussed fees		Additional Charges
Type of Students	Fees ceiling	Type of Students	Fees ceiling
Baden-Württemberg (BaWü)
All	€ 500	Abolition of fees from Summer 2012		€ 40
Bayern
All	€ 500	Only for part time std from Summer 2012
Berlin
All	0	All	0	€ 50
Brandenburg
All	0	All	0	€ 51
Bremen
Long time/Extern	€ 500	n.a.	n.a.	€ 50
Hessen
All	0	Long term/Extern	€ 500	€ 50
Lower Saxony
General Long time	€ 500 € 600-800	Same	Same	€ 75
North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW)
All	€ 500	Abolition of fees from Winter 2011		0
Rheinland-Pfalz (RLP)
All	€ 650	Extern	€ 500
Saarland
Long time/Second degree	€ 400	0	0	€ 75
Saxony-Anhalt
Long time	€ 500
Saxony
Second degree	€ 30 – 450	Long term	€ 500	€ 25-150
Thuringen
Long term	€ 500	n.a.	n.a.	€ 50

Long time – students who prolong their study period beyond the normal duration.

Second degree – students who are pursuing their second bachelors/masters degree.

Extern – students registered at a different university, exchange students.

Example

If your university is located in Berlin then you have to pay a total of

€ 50 + € 230 = € 280 per semester, i.e. € 560 per year.

If your university is located in NRW then you have to pay

€ 480 + € 230 = € 710 per semester, i.e. € 1420 per year.

**The actual tuition fees may vary slightly, so make sure to check your university’s website for up to date details.

Health Insurance

Students who study in Germany must have a health insurance. It is a legal requirement. In addition they must pay for nursing care contributions. There are two types of Insurance providers: Public Insurance Companies (Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung - GKV) and Private Insurance Companies (Private Krankenversicherung - PKV). If you aren’t over 30 years of age or hold a student status for more than 14 semesters at a university then you are entitled to receive a public insurance policy. Otherwise you have to opt for a private one.

The public insurance policies are much better than the private ones, and cover almost every aspect of health care with some exceptions (see section on Healthcare). The private insurance policies are more complicated and usually require you to pay for half of the medical costs. This can be very expensive!

Currently the public insurance policies cost € 78 per month. The private ones vary from € 20 to € 150 per month. It is advisable to opt for a public insurance. The public insurance companies are AOK and TK (see section on health insurance). In addition you have to pay € 10 once every three months if you visit the doctor and € 5 for each prescription.

Type	Suitable for	Cost in Euro
Public (TK or AOK)	Students below 30	78
Private	Students over 30/Long term	30 – 150 (+ hidden costs)!

Mobile and Internet connection

Chances are that you spend a good amount of time talking over phone. Then it is better to subscribe to a mobile phone contract. O2 is the most popular carrier among students and they offer flat rate packages which allow you to call to other O2 numbers and fixed phones all over Germany for free. You have to make a two year contract and the cost is about € 15 - € 20 per month from the company outlets. This usually includes a carrier subsidized handset (a very good one). An internet flat rate (intended for mobile use) will set you back an additional € 10 per month.

You can also get very good discounts on the same packages from discount retailers and prices can go as low as € 5 per month. Such an online retailer is Eteleon, and the connections are provided through a subcontractor such as Debitel. When signing such contracts double check that you have thoroughly read the fine prints – there can be hidden costs!

In case your student hostel doesn’t provide you with internet access or you stay at private accommodation, you can get a two years contract from one of the broadband internet providers for € 15 per month. The most popular provider among students is Alice.