Costs of Studying

At universities in Lower Saxony, fees are charged for continuing education courses in accordance with § 13 section 3 NHG.

At Osnabrück University, this currently applies to the following degree programs:

 M.Sc. Cognitive Computing

 Psychological Psychotherapist

 Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist

 Master's extension courses "Teacher Education extension subject"

According to § 14 section 2 NHG, a reminission of the long-term tuition fee is possible due to hardship, e.g. in the case of effects that extend the period of study due to a

1. disability (presentation of the severely disabled person's pass with 50% GdB is sufficient, generally see obligation to provide proof below under 2.
2. serious illness (proof only by means of a certificate from an official doctor including information on the duration of the effects that extend the period of study) or
3. in the case of consequences that extend the period of study as a victim of a criminal offense.

The  application (PDF, 113 kB) can be submitted up to one month after  the end of the lecture period of the respective semester at the latest.

International students often need time to orient themselves and settle in. It is especially important for them to be well-informed before they begin their studies: some programs require special language skills and certified knowledge of English and German.

Targeted information and good preparation can avoid an unnecessary study extensions and additional costs.
Further information can be found at  studieren-in-niedersachsen.de. If you have any questions, please contact the  Admissions Office.

Students whose  study entitlement has been used up, pay a long-term tuition fee of €500 for each semester in accordance with  § 13 NHG.

However, the long-term tuition fee is not charged by law (§ 13 section 1 sentence 2 NHG) for a semester in which students

1. are on leave of absence,
2. are caring for a child who has not yet reached the age of 14 at the beginning of the semester,
3. are caring for a close relative in need of care within the meaning of § 7 section 3 of the Caregiver Leave Act (Pflegezeitgesetz) at least 10 hours per week,
4. are either completing a period of study abroad as stipulated in the study or examination regulations or a practical semester of study.

Please refer to  non-use of the study entitlement to find out which evidence you need to provide for a semester in which the long-term tuition fee is not charged.

Please also note the  information on the remission of long-term tuition fees due to hardship in accordance with  § 14 section 2 NHG.

PhD/Doctoral students are generally not subject to long-term tuition fees.

Here is a list of approximate monthly living costs.

• rent: approx. €250-500 (prices for individual apartments on the open housing market may vary)
• public broadcasting fee: €18.36
• meals: approx. €170-250 (e.g. approx. €4 per lunch in university canteen of Osnabrück Student Services)
• clothing: approx. €30-50
• study materials: approx. €25-50 (may vary depending on the subject studied)
• leisure time: approx. €50-70

In addition, there are other costs of studying, which are explained on this page, as well as  insurance costs during your studies.

The  study entitlement is not used in semesters or trimesters in which the student

1. is on leave,
2. is caring for a child who has not yet reached the age of 14 at the beginning of the semester, proof must be provided once by the birth certificate and - for each new semester - by a household certificate/registration certificate from the residents' registration office,
3. cares for a close relative in need of care within the meaning of § 7 section 3 of the Caregiver Leave Act (Pflegezeitgesetz) at least 10 hours per week, evidence must be provided by a corresponding certificate of need for care and a certificate from the care insurance fund (in exceptional cases from the family doctor) on care services provided - new for each semester,
4. was active as an elected representative in a body of the university, the student body or the student union (crediting for a maximum of two semesters), or
5. holds the office of equal opportunities officer (crediting for a maximum of two semesters), evidence must be provided by means of a corresponding certificate from the office responsible for the body in question.

According to § 12 section 4 NHG, the student is obliged to provide the information required for the calculation of the study credit and to submit the necessary documents at the request of the university. If the student does not fulfill these obligations within a reasonable period of time set by the university, it is assumed that the study entitlement has been used up. The presumption can be rebutted by the end of the following semester or trimester by providing the required information and submitting the required documents.
Please inform Osnabrück University of the required information and submit the corresponding proof in PDF format by email to  studierendensekretariat@uni-osnabrueck.de during the re-registration period for the following semester. Otherwise it will be assumed that the study entitlement has been used up. This assumption can be refuted by the end of the following semester.

Please use the following  application form (PDF, 179 kB).
If the application is not submitted within the re-registration period for the semester in which long-term tuition fees are due for the first time, it will be assumed that the study entitlement has been used up. This presumption can be rebutted up to the end of the first semester in which long-term tuition fees were paid.

Bachelor's Degree Programs and First State Examination in Law

In accordance with  § 12 section 2 sentence 1 NHG, students have a study entitlement equal to the standard period of study of the chosen degree program plus six additional semesters (tolerance semesters) as part of a first professionally qualifying undergraduate degree program.
Example: In a six-semester Bachelor's degree course, the study entitlement is therefore twelve semesters and in the ten-semester State Examination in Law 16 semesters.
Once these have been used up, you are generally subject to long-term tuition fees (cf.  § 13 section 1 NHG).

Master Programs

For a consecutive Master's degree course subsequent to a Bachelor's degree, the study entitlement is increased in accordance with  § 12 section 2 sentence 2 NHG by the number of semesters of the standard period of study for this degree course, so that the total study entitlement for this "classic" course of study is 16 semesters.
Example: This means that if, for example, 14 semesters have been used up for the Bachelor's degree and long-term tuition fees have therefore already been paid for two semesters, the following four Master's semesters can be studied again free of long-term tuition fees.

If students have obtained the degree qualifying them for the Master's degree course at a university abroad, twice the number of standard study semesters of the chosen Master's degree course is decisive for the study credit in accordance with   § 12 section 2 sentence 3 NHG.
Example: Accordingly, the study entitlement amounts to eight semesters if a foreign Bachelor's degree is followed by enrolment in a four-semester consecutive Master's degree course at Osnabrück University.

Fundamentals

It should be noted that the study entitlement [at Osnabrück University] is reduced by the number of semesters of previous studies at German universities in accordance with  § 12 section 2 sentence 6 NHG.
Example: If, for example, 16 semesters of the above-mentioned "classic course of study" have already been used up by a previous course of study, you will be required to pay long-term tuition fees when you enrol on a further, new course of study at Osnabrück University.

As the study entitlement is not used up in certain proven situations, please also note the  information on "Non-use of Study Entitlement".