Is studying in Germany free for Indian students? What it really costs in 2026

Tuition is free at most public universities in Germany, which is why so many Indian students put it on their list. But “free” is the wrong word to plan with. You pay a semester contribution every six months, and before the visa you usually have to lock €11,904, about ₹13 lakh, into a German blocked account to live on. Since 2024, a growing number of Bavarian universities have also started charging students from outside the EU, on top of the long-standing fee in Baden-Württemberg.

This guide separates what is free from what is not, lists the public universities that now charge Indian students, and works out what a master’s really costs in rupees. Every figure links to an official page and was checked on 13 October 2026. Rupees use €1 ≈ ₹109; the official reference rate on 1 October was ₹108.62. German universities run a winter semester from October and a summer semester from April, so “summer 2027” below means a course starting in April 2027.

Is studying in Germany really free for Indian students?

Tuition is free at most German public universities, but the degree is not. The DAAD, Germany’s academic exchange service, says there are generally no fees for bachelor’s courses or most master’s courses at state higher education institutions. Even then, the first year of a master’s at a no-tuition university such as TU Chemnitz comes to about ₹14.8 lakh all in: two semester contributions, the €11,904 the visa requires for living costs, and the fees you pay before you leave. Tuition, where it is charged, comes on top.

Which German universities charge Indian students tuition in 2026?

All the public-university tuition we found is in two states, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. Baden-Württemberg charges non-EU students who qualified for university outside Germany, which in practice means Indian applicants, €1,500 a semester, about ₹1.64 lakh, for bachelor’s degrees and for master’s degrees that follow on from a bachelor’s. That covers Heidelberg, KIT, Stuttgart, Mannheim and Freiburg. In Bavaria, the DAAD says the universities decide for themselves whether to charge these fees and how much, and a growing number now do:

Where tuition is charged, it has to be paid before the visa. The German Missions in India say the first two semesters of tuition fees have to be paid, and that is on top of the blocked account. For a Baden-Württemberg master’s that means €3,000, about ₹3.3 lakh, up front; at TUM, €8,000 to €12,000, about ₹8.7 to 13.1 lakh.

Is TUM free for Indian students?

No. TUM charges new students from outside the EU tuition: for master’s programmes it is usually 4,000 or 6,000 euros per semester, about ₹4.4 to 6.5 lakh, so a two-year master’s carries ₹17 to 26 lakh in tuition alone. TUM has announced that its fees for non-EU students will increase for the winter semester 2027/28, to €4,600 or €6,800 for a master’s; students already enrolled keep the rate they started on. Students who completed a bachelor’s at a German university are generally exempt for the master’s.

Not every Bavarian university charges. LMU Munich says no tuition fees are charged, and the University of Würzburg says there are no tuition fees. Outside Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, we found no public university charging Indian students tuition for a regular master’s. In Saxony, a committee of the state parliament heard an opposition bill in April 2026 that would make non-EU students pay €1,500 a semester; when we checked in October 2026 it was still a proposal, not law. Because these rules now change from one intake to the next, open the fee page of every university on your shortlist in the month you apply.

What is the semester contribution, and how much is it?

The semester contribution is a compulsory fee, usually under €100 to about €455 every six months, and every student pays it, even where tuition is free. It funds the local Studierendenwerk (the student services organisation that runs halls and canteens), the student union and an administration fee, and at most universities it includes the Deutschlandsemesterticket, a pass for local and regional transport across Germany. The DAAD puts it at between 70 and 430 euros, but some universities are now above that. For winter 2026/27:

The ticket is the largest part. It costs 60% of the regular Deutschlandticket, which is €63 a month in 2026, so €226.80 a semester. The Deutschlandticket rises to €66.80 a month from 1 January 2027, so expect contributions that include the ticket to rise in later semesters. Where the ticket is not included, as in Munich, Karlsruhe or Stuttgart, you buy your own transport pass.

How much is the blocked account for Germany in 2026?

€11,904 for the first year, about ₹13 lakh. The German Missions in India ask for a blocked account with funds currently amounting to 11,904 euros, with a confirmation that no more than €992 a month can be withdrawn. It is not a fee. It is your own money, paid into an account in Germany before the visa appointment and released to you at up to €992, about ₹1.08 lakh, a month once you arrive, to pay rent, food, health insurance and everything else.

The providers charge for running the account. Fintiba asks €159 to set it up and €9.90 a month, and Expatrio €119 and €9 a month; these are two examples, not a recommendation. The Federal Foreign Office says that in addition to the amount blocked in the account, you have to pay the requisite banking fees.

Three points that families often get wrong:

• An education loan does not replace it. The missions say an education loan is additional to the blocked account. A loan can fund the deposit, but the money still has to sit in the blocked account; our guide to loans without collateral covers how families borrow it.
• An Indian affidavit of support is not accepted. The alternatives are a formal declaration of commitment (Verpflichtungserklärung) from a sponsor living in Germany, made at the local immigration office, or a German or EU scholarship. If a stipend already covers €992 a month, the missions say there will be no need for a blocked account.
• The amount follows German student support rates. The Federal Foreign Office says it is based on the maximum rates for support received by German students. A government bill would raise the housing part of that support from €380 to €440 a month from 1 April 2027, and the basic rate from winter 2027/28. No new blocked account figure has been announced, but for any 2027 intake, check the mission’s page in the week you open the account.

Our proof of funds guide compares the German blocked account with what the UK, Canada, Australia and the USA ask families to show.

What does a master’s in Germany cost in rupees?

About ₹28.6 lakh for two years at a university with no tuition, and about ₹34 to 62 lakh where tuition is charged. These are five worked budgets, each with the same one-off costs: the APS certificate, the dMAT test, four applications through uni-assist (not needed for SRH), the visa, a year of blocked account fees and the residence permit with one extension. Living is budgeted at the €992 a month the visa uses, except in Munich.

Munich is the expensive exception. TUM tells students that in the greater Munich area they should expect monthly living expenses of approximately 1,300 to 2,000 euros for a single-person household; the budgets above use the low end, and the high end would add about ₹18 lakh over two years. Elsewhere the DAAD estimates between 900 and 1,200 euros a month. Rent is the swing item: the Deutsches Studierendenwerk puts the average hall of residence rent at €318 a month, including all bills, while in Munich the Studierendenwerk’s average is about €400.60, with a waiting period of one to seven semesters, so many students rent privately for much more.

Two monthly costs come out of the €992 as well:

• Health insurance: public health insurance at TK (Techniker Krankenkasse, one of the largest public insurers) costs €141.16 a month under 23 and €146.29 from 23. The student rate ends at the end of the semester in which you turn 30.
• Broadcasting fee: every flat pays €18.36 a month, once however many people share it, and only students on German state support can apply for exemption. A hall room that opens off a shared corridor counts as its own flat.

What do you pay before you leave India?

About ₹80,000 in one-off fees for a typical master’s applicant: the APS certificate, the dMAT where it applies, university applications, the visa and the blocked account set-up fee. Tuition paid in advance, where it applies, and flights are extra.

• APS certificate: APS India, the Academic Evaluation Centre, checks that your Indian academic documents are genuine, and the German Missions say applicants with Indian qualifications almost always require its certificate. The fee is ₹18,000, and APS India says the process takes at least two weeks.
• Applications: many universities take international applications through uni-assist, a central service that checks them on the universities’ behalf. It charges €75 for the first programme and €30 for each additional one, every semester you apply. Some Bavarian universities have added their own fees for non-EU applicants, such as €60 per application at Bamberg from winter 2026/27.
• Visa: the national visa fee is ₹8,300, or €75, not refunded if the visa is refused, and the service provider adds between €10 and €20. Student visa applications go through the Federal Foreign Office’s Consular Services Portal. The Consulate General in Chennai covers Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Puducherry.
• Residence permit in Germany: €100, and €93 for an extension.

What is the dMAT, and who needs it?

The Digital Master Test is a new aptitude test that APS India has added to the APS file for master’s applicants whose degree is in engineering, commerce, accounting, finance, economics, business or management, for the summer semester 2027 intake and later intakes. It costs €150, about ₹16,350, and test centres include Chennai. You are exempt if you registered with APS before 29 June 2026, or are on an officially confirmed exchange or double-degree programme, and a low score does not by itself mean the APS certificate is refused. But APS India issues the certificate only after it has checked your dMAT result, so the test adds time before the visa. The first test was on 26 September 2026; check the page for the next date before you plan your APS.

Is a master’s in Germany free, or only a bachelor’s?

A consecutive master’s, the kind that follows straight on from a bachelor’s in the same field, is free of tuition at the same universities where a bachelor’s is free. Two kinds of fee still catch people out:

• Continuing-education master’s. The DAAD says tuition fees may have to be paid for certain continuing education master’s programmes, usually ones that expect work experience. Examples at public universities: TU Berlin’s Global Production Engineering charges €15,500 for the programme, and RWTH Aachen’s Robotic Systems Engineering €24,000. A programme on a public university’s website is not always free.
• Fees for taking too long. Some states charge long-term student fees, usually €500 a semester, once you pass a set limit. In Lower Saxony it starts when your study credit is used up; in Thuringia, when you are more than four semesters over the standard period. Saxony charges the same €500 a semester. A master’s finished on time never reaches these.

An Indian bachelor’s does not trigger Baden-Württemberg’s €650 second-degree fee: degrees earned abroad are not counted, and students paying the €1,500 international fee are not charged it. Engineering graduates weighing Germany against the USA or the UK should also read our MS after BTech guide.

Is a bachelor’s in Germany free for Indian students after Class 12?

The same universities are tuition-free, and where fees apply they are usually lower for a bachelor’s: TUM charges non-EU bachelor’s students usually 2,000 or 3,000 euros per semester, and a Studienkolleg year does not exempt you. But most Indian students cannot start a German bachelor’s straight after Class 12. DAAD India says that after a Class 12 certificate one cannot get a direct admission to a German university, the exception being a valid JEE Advanced result for technology and natural sciences. The usual routes are one successful year of a bachelor’s in the same field in India, or a Studienkolleg, a foundation course ending in an entrance exam called the Feststellungsprüfung. The DAAD says public Studienkollegs are in general free of charge, apart from the semester contribution, while private ones often charge. Most Studienkollegs teach in German, and DAAD India puts the level needed at approximately B1 to B2, so start German early. English-taught options are also fewer at this level: the DAAD counts about 430 English-taught bachelor’s programmes, against 1,950 master’s, so most bachelor’s students need German.

How much do private universities in Germany cost?

Usually about €15,000 to €40,000 for a master’s, against little or nothing at most public universities. Many Indian students consider them when a public university place does not come through. Published prices for English-taught master’s programmes:

Check what you are buying. A state-recognised (staatlich anerkannt) private university awards German degrees; Berlin’s science department says these have the same standing as degrees from state universities. The Hochschulkompass, run by the German Rectors’ Conference, lists only state or state-recognised German universities, so search for the university there. Some Berlin campuses instead award a British degree from a UK partner, which is worth knowing before you compare prices.

For the visa, the German Missions ask private-university students for proof that you have paid the fees for the first year or have paid a substantial deposit, on top of the blocked account. Two years at SRH Berlin come to about ₹56.8 lakh in our budget above, close to a one-year UK master’s outside London; see our UK cost guide.

Can you study in Germany in English, without German?

Yes, at master’s level. German universities offer about 1,950 master’s programmes taught entirely in English, by the DAAD’s count. For the visa you prove the language you will study in, and the German Missions in India say that for a degree, generally the required level of knowledge is C1, regardless if the studies are in German or English. They also say that neither Duolingo, Pearson PTE nor the TOEFL home edition is recognised for applications in India, so plan on IELTS or another accepted test; our IELTS or PTE guide explains the difference.

German still matters outside the lecture hall. From what our students tell us, part-time jobs, flat hunting and most graduate jobs outside large tech firms are far easier with at least B1 German, so start learning before you fly, even for an English-taught course.

Can part-time work cover your living costs?

Part of them, but not at the start, and it never replaces the blocked account, which must be in place before the visa. Students may work up to 140 working days a year, where a day of up to four hours counts as half a day. The law also lets a week count as just 2.5 days if you work up to 20 hours in it during the lecture period, or any hours in the holidays, whichever way is better for you. Because 52 weeks at 2.5 days is 130 days, in practice that allows up to 20 hours a week in term and full-time work in the holidays. Work as a student assistant at your university does not count at all.

The statutory minimum wage is €13.90 an hour in 2026 and €14.60 in 2027. A minijob, the common student arrangement, pays up to €603 a month in 2026 and €633 in 2027, about ₹66,000 to ₹69,000, or roughly 60% of the €992 the visa assumes you spend. In our experience, students who find work usually do so after the first few months, once they have a flat, a bank account and some German.

What happens after you graduate in Germany?

Graduates can get a residence permit of up to 18 months to look for work, and because the Residence Act lets permit holders work unless a law forbids or limits it, you can work while you search, provided you can support yourself. A job paying at least €45,934.20 a year, about ₹50 lakh, qualifies a recent graduate in 2026 for the EU Blue Card, Germany’s main work permit for graduates in skilled jobs; the standard threshold is €50,700. India is the largest source of international students in Germany, with around 58,800 students in winter 2024/25.

If you are thinking further ahead, a doctorate is also generally tuition-free: the DAAD says tuition is free for doctoral studies for at least the first 6 semesters at all public universities, and many doctoral candidates are paid as university or research staff.

Can a scholarship make Germany genuinely free?

For a few students. The DAAD’s EPOS scholarships for development-related master’s programmes pay 992 euros a month to graduates and require at least two years’ work experience; a German scholarship at that level can replace the blocked account. The Deutschlandstipendium pays 300 euros a month, is open to students of all nationalities, including those in their first semester, and you apply directly to your university. Most Indian students fund Germany with family savings or an education loan; our education loan guide covers the options.

How do you keep the cost of Germany low?

• Choose the state as carefully as the course. The same master’s can cost nothing in tuition in Saxony or North Rhine-Westphalia and €12,000 a year at TUM.
• Apply for a hall place the day you are admitted. Studierendenwerk halls are the cheapest rooms: in Dresden, rooms in one hall cost €287 to €359 a month, and the queues are long everywhere.
• Start the APS before you apply. With the dMAT added for many applicants and the missions warning that visa processing may take several months, in our experience it is the paperwork, not the fees, that most often delays a German start.

For the wider picture, see our guides to the cheapest countries to study abroad and the cost of studying abroad, or our page on studying in Germany and Europe.