Past general tuition fees

Until summer semester 2012

On 21 December 2011, the parliament of the State of Baden-Württemberg decided to eliminate the general tuition fees by the summer semester of 2012.

To compensate for this and to secure the continued quality of study and teaching, the national universities receive quality assurance resources according to the state quality assurance law (QualSiG). This was integrated into the basic funding models of the universities for the winter semester 2015/2016.

From the summer semester 2007 until the winter semester 2011/2012, the universities in the state of Baden-Württemberg collected tuition fees. All students at state universities that were completing their undergraduate or consecutive master’s studies were required to pay 500 Euro tuition fees per semester. This money was used to improve the study conditions and the quality of courses.

For specific study programmes, there are still special tuition fees.

Exceptions include circumstances where students were on approved leaves of absence or were taking part in required study abroad stays or internships abroad during the standard period of study. Doctoral students did not have to pay tuition fees.

Students could also be exempted in special circumstances. Exempt were international students that were studying in Konstanz through an exchange programme or another university cooperation.

In order to finance their studies and pay for the general tuition fees, (first-year) students were entitled to a loan from the Landeskreditbank Baden-Württemberg (L-Bank) (state credit bank Baden-Würtemberg) when and if they fulfilled certain preconditions, irrespective of the choice of study programme and parental income. This loan had to be paid back two years after completing their studies, and only if a certain level of income was earned. Furthermore, (first-year) students could also take out low-interest rate loans from other banks.

The requirement to pay the tuition fees was communicated through a notification of fees. It applied to the entire period of study at the University of Konstanz. The tuition fees were collected along with the administrative fee and the Seezeit Bodensee student services fee. Students who were already enrolled at the time of the introduction of the new tuition fees, were contacted separately. First-year students in later semesters received the notification of fees together with their study admissions letter.