Administrative charge

The administration charge is €50 per semester. Part-time students are also required to pay the administration charge of €50 per semester.

With the exception of those cases listed below, the administrative charge has to be paid each semester by all students enrolled at Saarland University as well as by prospective students currently taking German language courses or higher education preparatory classes.

Exceptions to this rule are: students on advanced professional study programmes or postgraduate training or certificate programmes for which tuition fees apply, school students in the early-access scheme (Jumiorstudierende), registered doctoral students, non-enrolled students (Gasthörer) and cross-enrolled students (Zweithörer) within the university alliance Universitätsverbund Südwest.

Additionally, students may also be exempted from paying the administrative charge in a particular semester if

• they are on a foreign work placement or internship or are studying abroad as required in the relevant study and examination regulations (in such cases, students will need to submit certification from the relevant examination office or a letter of admission or a certificate of enrolment from the foreign host university), or
• they have been granted leave of absence for at least one semester. In this case, the application for leave of absence must already have been approved.

You may request exemption from payment if one of the following applies:

• You receive BAföG (financial support for education and training from the German government). Please include your most recent letter of notification from the BAföG office with your application.
• You are currently caring for and bringing up your own (biological or adopted) child who will be under the age of ten at the beginning of the relevant semester. Please include your child’s birth certificate with your application.
• You have a disability within the meaning of Book IX of the German Social Welfare Code (SGB IX). Please submit relevant proof of disability with your application, e.g. the German disability document (Behindertenausweis) verifying that you have a rating of at least 50 on the German disability status scale.
• You are currently supporting a near relative with care needs, as defined in the German Care Act (Pflegegesetz). The documentation to be submitted from the care insurance provider or the medical service provider must specify the name of the carer.
• You are currently taking statutory maternity leave. Please provide confirmatory documentation, such as a doctor’s letter or your maternity healthcare record specifying the expected date of birth (or, if you are submitting your request after delivery, the child's birth certificate).
• You are currently on parental leave as per the provisions of the Federal Parental Leave and Parental Benefits Act (Bundeselterngeld- und Elternzeitgesetz). Please submit the necessary supporting documents, such as the child's birth certificate, the period of leave applied for, etc. If you are caring for a foster child, you will also need to provide confirmatory documentation from the Youth Welfare Office (Jugendamt).
• You are an international student enrolled under a regional, national or international cooperative agreement or within a higher education exchange programme that guarantees exemption from fees and charges.

Please complete the application for exemption and send it with the required supporting documentation (as PDF scans) by email to studium(at)uni-saarland.de.

If your application for exemption from the administrative charge is submitted after you have already made a payment, you will need to submit an additional application for reimbursement. All documents are to be submitted electronically; paper documents will not be processed.

If you have a letter of admission or a certificate of enrolment from the host university abroad for the semester in question, you may apply for exemption from the administrative charge.

No, you only need to pay the administrative charge once. However, the payment will need to be split between the two universities at which you are studying.

Example: You are enrolled on a teacher training degree programme in music and German. You are studying music at HfM Saar (University of Music Saar) and you are studying education science and German at Saarland University. In this case, the administrative charge payable to Saarland University is €25, which you must pay in addition to other applicable fees.

That depends on when you deregistered. If you deregistered within the first two months of the semester, i.e. on or before 30 November for a winter semester, or 31 May for a summer semester, you may apply to have the administrative charge reimbursed.

Hardship exemptions are decided on a case-by-case basis. Section 5 of the Fee Schedule (Beitragsordnung) makes provisions for students who find themselves in exceptional financial circumstances. A student wishing to apply for exemption in this case must apply in writing and must demonstrate that they are facing financial hardship by providing documented evidence to support their application.

The information to be provided will typically include documents showing the applicant’s own income (e.g. payslips) and, if applicable, information on the income of other persons responsible for providing financial support to the applicant (e.g. parents, spouse). If the applicant (or, where applicable, a parent) is self-employed, a tax assessment notice from the previous year will be required. The written application and required supporting documents should be uploaded as a single PDF file to studium(at)uni-saarland.de.