Tuition fee waivers for international students will be granted automatically in the following cases:
- Students from the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA)
- Non-Germans with a German higher education entrance qualification under § 58 LHG
- Students enrolling for a doctoral program
- Students on exchanges arising from partnership agreements with their host university (e.g. Erasmus) - § 6 Abs. 1 Landeshochschulgebührengesetz (LHGebG)
- Double Degree students from partner institutions abroad, if mutual tuition fee waivers have been agreed upon within partnership agreements - § 6 Abs. 1 LHGebG
- Family members (spouses, de facto partners, children) of citizens of EU and EEA countries under § 3 of EU freedom of movement law - § 5 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 LHGebG
- Non-EU or EEA citizens who have an EU residence permit - § 5 Abs. 1 Nr. 2 LHGebG.
- Non-EU or EEA citizens permanently residing in Germany with a residence permit for international law - § 5 Abs. 1 Nr. 5 LHGebG
- Refugees whose habitual abode is in Germany, who are recognized under the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and whose entitlement to reside in Germany is not merely provisional - § 5 Abs. 1 Nr. 3 LHGebG
- Displaced persons under the (post-World War II) - Gesetz über die Rechtsstellung heimatloser Ausländer im Bundesgebiet - § 5 Abs. 1 Nr. 4 LHGebG
- Non-EU or EEA citizens with permanent residence in Germany who have been legally present in Germany without interruption for at least 15 months and who have a particular form of residence permit (e.g., due to a stay of deportation or other obstacle to leaving the country) - § 5 Abs. 1 Nr. 6 LHGebG
- Non-EU or EEA citizens with permanent residence in Germany who have been legally present in Germany without interruption for at least 15 months - § 5 Abs. 1 Nr. 7 LHGebG,
- Non-EU or EEA citizens who have been present in Germany for five years and have been legally employed - § 5 Abs. 1 Nr. 8 LHGebG
- Non-EU or EEA citizens with at least one parent who has lived in Germany for a total of 3 of the 6 years prior to the start of the applicant’s studies and who was legally employed - § 5 Abs. 1 Nr. 9 LHGebG
- Non-EU or EEA citizens who have completed a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree or a Staatsexamen or diploma study program (cf. Second Degree Tuition Fees) - 5 Abs. 1 Nr. 10 LHGebG
The following may apply for exemption to the fee after they receive the payment-due notice:
- Students in a practical semester which is part of their regular studies - § 6 Abs. 2 Nr. 3 LHGebG
- Students with a significant disability which hinders their studies as set out in § 2 SGB IX - § 6 Abs. 7 LHGebG
- Students on leave of absence, if the application for leave of absence was made prior to the start of semester - § 6 Abs. 2 Nr. 1 LHGebG
- Students in their year of practical training? - § 6 Abs. 2 Nr. 2 LHGebG
- Non-EU or EEA citizens with an “Aufenthaltsgestattung” residence document under § 55 paragraph 1 of the asylum law, who have citizenship of a country which the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees assesses as having a high protection quota - § 6 Abs. 6 LHGebG.
If a state leaves the EU or EEA (e.g. Brexit) and if citizens of that state thereby become subject to tuition fees, citizens of that state may continue their studies without paying tuition fees if, at the time the departure from the EU or EEA becomes effective, they have been enrolled in a degree program at an institution of higher education in Baden-Württemberg for at least five semesters.
Reference: Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst Baden-Württemberg, Tution Fees for International Students, update 17.07.2017
