Is Germany Still Tuition-Free? FAU Erlangen-Nuernberg Starts Non-EU Fees in 2027

Is Germany still tuition-free?

Mostly, yes. The DAAD's guide to study costs still says "There are generally no fees for Bachelor's courses or most Master's courses at state higher education institutions." It names two exceptions. Baden-Wuerttemberg charges non-EU students 1,500 euros a semester (see our Baden-Wuerttemberg breakdown), and Bavaria lets each university decide for itself.

TUM already charges. FAU, a university of around 40,000 students, joins it from summer semester 2027. For all 16 states side by side, see German public university tuition by state.

What FAU announced, and when the fees start

FAU announced the fees on 7 July 2026. The Executive Board, the deans and the Senate took the decision jointly, and the notice was blunt about current students: "This will not affect students who are already enrolled."

The fee starts with summer semester 2027, which at FAU runs from 1 April to 30 September 2027, with lectures from 12 April. It hits two groups: non-EU students enrolling at FAU for the first time from that semester, and non-EU students already at FAU who change subject from then on.

The legal basis is Article 13 of the Bavarian Higher Education Innovation Act (BayHIG). Paragraph 3 lets a university charge for "das Studium auslaendischer Studierender", the study of foreign students, as an option rather than a duty. Paragraph 7 has each university set the amounts in its own fee statute and design this fee to be "sozialvertraeglich" (our translation: "socially acceptable").

FAU tuition fees by programme

FAU sets the fee per programme, between 1,000 and 6,000 euros a semester for full-time study. These rows come from its official table for engineering, computing and business programmes:

Part-time study, where a programme offers it, halves the fee. A two-subject bachelor's in the humanities faculty is charged once, not twice. Enrol in two programmes at once and you pay for both. The 82-euro semester contribution comes on top, and since winter semester 2026/27 non-EU applicants also pay a 100-euro processing fee per application, capped at three applications (300 euros) per round.

Do the maths before you apply. A master's at 4,000 euros that takes four semesters costs 16,000 euros in tuition plus 328 euros in semester contributions. At 6,000 euros a semester it's 24,000. FAU bills each semester you're enrolled, so a thesis that runs into a fifth semester means a fifth bill.

Who pays FAU tuition, and who doesn't

You pay only if all four of these are true: you're in a bachelor's or master's programme, you hold no German, EU or EEA citizenship, you have no German university entrance qualification, and you have no established ties to Germany. FAU defines those ties as five years living in Germany with legal employment before you start, or a parent who lived and worked legally in Germany for three of the last six years.

No fee applies to:

• non-EU students enrolled at FAU before summer semester 2027, as long as they stay in the same programme
• State Examination programmes such as Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy and Law
• doctoral candidates, including PhD programmes
• exchange students such as Erasmus, FAU Scientia students, and professional development and module programmes
• dual citizens who also hold an EU or EEA passport
• master's students with a German bachelor's degree, generally, if the degree is finished before the master's starts (FAU's own graduates must prove it within five weeks of lectures starting)
• any semester you spend on leave of absence

Two more groups can apply for exemption: students with a disability that seriously affects their studies, with proof and a case-by-case check, and asylum seekers with a permission to stay whose country has a recognised protection rate of 50% or more.

What it means if you're applying from India or Nepal

The cut-off is enrolment, not your admission letter.

• Enrolled for winter 2026/27 or earlier: no fee for your current programme. Switch subject and you come under it.
• Admitted for winter 2026/27 but still waiting on a visa: FAU waives the application fee if you reapply for the same non-restricted programme within the academic year. Its tuition exemption covers students who were enrolled, not admitted, so if you first enrol in April 2027, plan on paying and get FAU's answer in writing from [email protected].
• Applying for summer 2027 or winter 2027/28: you pay. Only some FAU master's programmes take summer starters, and deadlines differ by programme.
• Bachelor's applicants going through a Studienkolleg: FAU's fee page doesn't say whether passing a German Studienkolleg exam counts as a German entrance qualification. TUM states that at TUM it doesn't exempt you. Ask FAU before you count on it.

How you pay, and what you get for it

FAU posts the fee notice in your campo account. You pay at enrolment through ePayBayern, Bavaria's state payment platform, by PayPal or Visa/Mastercard and in euros only, within ten working days of the notice. The payment takes 3 to 10 working days to appear, and FAU won't process your enrolment until it does. If you de-register within four weeks of the semester starting, you can apply for a refund. After that, nothing comes back.

In return, fee-payers get a guaranteed place on a free German course, plus onboarding, study advice and psychosocial counselling. On scholarships, FAU says only that information on scholarships and waivers will "soon" be on its website. As of 12 October 2026 nothing is listed, so don't build a budget around a waiver that doesn't exist yet.

FAU vs TUM and the rest of Bavaria

FAU's rates sit close to TUM's. TUM usually charges 4,000 or 6,000 euros a semester for a master's and 2,000 or 3,000 for a bachelor's, rising to 4,600 or 6,800 and 2,300 or 3,400 from winter semester 2027/28. FAU's lowest master's tier, 2,000 euros, is half TUM's usual minimum, and it covers programmes such as Electrical Engineering and Communications and Multimedia Engineering. TUM already offers waiver scholarships for strong grades or financial need; FAU doesn't yet.

More on TUM is in our TUM tuition guide, the other Bavarian universities are in our Bavaria overview, and fee-free options are in English-taught master's programmes that are still free. Every student pays a semester fee regardless: here is how it works.

Check your shortlist before you apply

If FAU is on your list, look up the fee for your exact programme in FAU's table before you pay 100 euros to apply. For a second opinion on where your profile fits, start with our free profile evaluation.

Sources

• FAU: Introduction of tuition fees for international students from non-EU states (7 July 2026)
• FAU: Einfuehrung von Studiengebuehren fuer zukuenftige internationale Studierende aus Nicht-EU-Staaten (7 July 2026)
• FAU: Tuition fees for students from non-EU states
• FAU: Studiengebuehren fuer Studierende aus Nicht-EU-Staaten
• FAU: Fees for applications from non-EU states
• FAU: Rueckmeldung und Semesterbeitrag (semester dates and semester contribution)
• FAU: Applying for a Master's degree program as an international student
• FAU Medical Engineering: New tuition fees for international students from non-EU countries from summer semester 2027 (15 July 2026)
• Bayern.Recht: Bayerisches Hochschulinnovationsgesetz (BayHIG), Art. 13 Kosten
• DAAD: Costs of education and living
• TUM: Tuition fees for students from non-EU countries