Semester fee – a small price for free tuition
As Deutsche Welle notes, the semester fee (Semesterbeitrag) is a mandatory condition for starting and continuing studies in Germany for both German and international students. Twice a year, the university issues an invoice that must be paid by the specified deadline. The same rule applies to doctoral students and foreign students who come to Germany on exchange programs. However, for these groups of students, the fee amount is often slightly lower.
Universities often remind students of this by email a few weeks before the end of the current semester. By paying the fee, the student informs the university of their intention to continue their studies (Rückmeldung). Only then are they issued a student ID and other documents for the next semester.
If the money is not paid on time, the university imposes a fine, the amount of which varies significantly. While at the University of Bonn such an oversight costs 5 euros, at the Berlin University of Technology the offender will have to fork out 50 euros. And if two weeks pass from the start of classes and the bill remains unpaid or not fully paid (installment payments are not allowed), the student is automatically expelled.
If the fee is paid but the student decides not to continue their studies, the money is refunded. Universities often exempt students with severe disabilities from paying the fee. Some universities make concessions and reduce the fee if the student takes a leave of absence, for example, for childcare or study abroad on an exchange.
The amount of the semester fee is the same for all students at a given university; it does not consider the income or financial situation of the students. Some universities, such as the Technical University of Ilmenau, differentiate between first-year students and continuing students (for whom the fee is slightly lower), between those who changed their major within the university and students who transferred from elsewhere. Depending on the university, this amount ranges from 50 to 300 euros. For example, in the summer semester of 2015, at the University of Applied Sciences Stralsund it is 55 euros, at the University of Bayreuth – 88 euros, and at the University of Hamburg – 300 euros.
In some cities, students at all public universities located there pay the same fee: for example, in Munich – 111 euros per semester. There is no correlation between the fee amount and the geographic location or size of the university. The difference is explained only by the range of services covered by the fee.
As a rule, the largest part of the amount is the cost of the student transit pass (Semesterticket), which allows the use of public transport within the city and often between cities within the region or even the entire federal state. At some universities, students have the option to opt out of paying for the transit pass and thus reduce the amount of the semester fee. At others, the transport discount does not apply during breaks. There are also universities where the transit pass is not included in the mandatory fee at all, and students must pay full price for transport, which significantly hits their wallets.
In addition, the fund from the semester fees covers administrative work, including, for example, record keeping and issuing student IDs (whether in the form of a small piece of paper or a substantial electronic card), as well as the work of the Student Services Organization (Studentenwerk). A certain portion of the expenses goes to organizations such as the student parliament or the student committee AStA, which deal with university policy issues, advocate for student interests, and provide advice on study-related topics.
The semester fee partially covers the costs of running the university cafeteria and sports sections, organizing language courses and cultural programs. And another advantage: the semester fee includes insurance for students against injuries sustained while at the university, as well as liability for damage to third parties. The insurance paid from semester fees also covers cases of theft of bicycles parked at the university and clothing from cloakrooms.