Is Germany Still Tuition-Free in 2026? What Actually Changed

Every few months a headline announces that Germany has started charging international students, and thousands of applicants quietly cross it off their list.

The reality is narrower than the headline, but it is not nothing — and if you are applying now, you need to know which side of the line your university sits on.

The short answer

Most public universities in Germany still charge no tuition, including for non-EU students. What you pay each semester is the Semesterbeitrag — an administrative contribution, commonly somewhere in the range of €150–400, which usually includes a public transport pass.

What changed is that one state opened a door.

What Bavaria actually did

Bavaria passed higher education legislation that permits its universities to charge tuition to students from outside the EU/EEA. Permitting is not requiring. Each university decides for itself.

Bavaria has more than 50 higher education institutions. Only a small number have introduced fees. The most prominent is TU München, which now charges non-EU students, with master's programs priced well above bachelor's. Reported figures vary by source and by program, and some other Bavarian institutions have announced or trialled fees at lower levels.

Meanwhile large Bavarian universities including LMU Munich and the University of Passau have not introduced them.

So: a specific state, a specific opt-in, and mostly a small number of highly-ranked institutions.

Baden-Württemberg, the older case

Bavaria was not first. Baden-Württemberg has charged non-EU students a tuition fee per semester for years — an established policy that predates the current headlines, affecting universities such as Heidelberg, Stuttgart and Freiburg.

There are exemptions in that state, including for some refugees and for students who completed their qualifying certificate in Germany. Check your own case rather than assuming.

Everywhere else

The other fourteen federal states have not introduced general tuition for non-EU students. That includes major destinations across North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Hesse and Saxony — home to a very large share of Germany's English-taught programs.

If cost is your binding constraint, the answer is not to abandon Germany. It is to weight your shortlist toward states and universities that remain free, and you can search 20,000+ programs filtered by tuition to do exactly that.

What has NOT changed

• Semesterbeitrag still applies everywhere. It is not tuition and it is not new.
• Blocked account requirements are set nationally by the Federal Foreign Office based on the BAföG rate — currently in the region of €992 per month, or roughly €11,904 for a year. This figure is reviewed annually, so verify the current number on your embassy's site before depositing.
• Long-programme fees still exist in some states for students who greatly exceed the standard study duration.
• Post-study rights are unchanged: the 18-month residence permit to seek work after graduating remains.

Germany is still competitive — and more crowded

Around 400,000 international students were registered in Germany in the 2025/26 winter semester, up roughly six percent year on year.

Read that carefully, because it cuts both ways. It confirms Germany is still one of the best value propositions in global higher education. It also means the competition for places has risen, and that competition is the more likely reason you get rejected — not tuition.

How to check your own case properly

Do not rely on a forum post or on this article. For each program on your list:

Open the university's own fees page, not a third-party summary.

Check whether the fee applies to non-EU/EEA (third-country) students specifically.

Check whether it differs for bachelor's and master's — the gap is often large.

Note the Semesterbeitrag separately, and whether it includes a transport pass.

Check the exemptions list. Refugees, students with a German school-leaving certificate, and some exchange students are frequently exempt.

Fee decisions are made per university and change between cycles. The page on the university's site is the only authority.

The honest financial picture

Even at a Bavarian university charging fees, the total cost of a German degree usually stays well below the equivalent in the UK, US, Australia or Canada — where five-figure annual tuition is the norm rather than the exception.

And at the great majority of German public universities, tuition remains zero. Your real budget line is living costs, and that is what the blocked account exists to prove.

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Cost varies far more by university than by country. Search 20,000+ programs and compare tuition, language of instruction and deadlines side by side before you commit to a shortlist — and check how your grades convert with the GPA Converter so you are targeting places you can realistically get into.