I have this post in my drafts folder entitled "Where To Begin". It details all the chaos (some good, other bad) that has occurred in my life since you last heard from me December 21, 2014. I cannot believe it has been six months. It is really difficult to find the right words to come back to a space I loved (and still do) and then just abandoned without explanation. Posts regarding the chaos will come with time, but I have finally found the words thanks to an article published by Franz Strasser on BBC entitled "How US students get a university degree for free in Germany". Several people shared this article with me (thank you for thinking of me, by the way) and I was eager to read it, interested in hearing what others have to say about my current academic pursuits. As I read through the article, I found myself growing increasingly frustrated with the financial inaccuracies reported. The article did not have a comments section (although I just found the author's Twitter and he is certainly a sight for sore eyes, but I digress...) so I am here to set the record straight.
For those unfamiliar with me and my blog, I want to briefly mention my credentials to discuss this topic. Namely, I am a masters student funding my own studies at the Technische Universität München, a public institution in the heart of Munich, so I have first-hand knowledge about the costs of pursuing an education in the city.
I took a screenshot (below) of the table in the article for your reference, which sums of the reported costs of living in Germany. Since I am a student in Munich at the same university as Hunter, I will be specifically referencing his column.
Let's begin with row A, rent.
There are several things wrong with this picture. First, it shows here Munich costs less than Freiburg. This is completely inaccurate; it is well-known that Munich is the most expensive city to live in in Germany. Hunter's video briefly shows that he pays "€280 for an apartment in Garching, Bavaria". Garching, home to TUM Physics, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Mathematics und Informatics, is a town located north of Munich and this is a key fact that should be emphasized. Hunter does not live in Munich, he lives in Garching, where he studies. I am also going to go out on a limb here and say that Hunter does not pay that for an "apartment", but rather student housing. Student housing is certainly an affordable option, which you can likely get into after applying and waiting a semester or two (but as a masters student steer clear).
A more accurate monthly rent to strive for as student in Munich (not Garching) is €500. This will get you a room in a WG (shared flat) in the city. For the sake of transparency, I pay €580/month.
We can skip health insurance, as €80 is accurate and it is pretty killer health insurance.
On to row C, semester fee*.
It says clearly in the article that Hunter pays €111/semester and this is correct. However, this amount does not include transportation costs. The MVV semester ticket costs an additional €146.50 per semester. This is still a fantastic deal, but it is not included in your semester fees.
I also cannot go without mentioning, as my friend Jay Malone does in the following, that Germany universities are completely state-supported and therefore pretty "bare bones". You will not have your on-campus state-of-the-art gym and swimming pool like you were used to at your bachelor's university (but you'll get over it).
I cannot comment on miscellaneous at €100 as this varies too individually.
For planning sake, living on €620 per month in Munich is very ambitious and I would say damn near impossible. The woman in the video studying in Freiburg says she plans to live on €400 per month, which is also absurd. I recommend budgeting €1000/month for your expenses in Munich (and about €800 for Freiburg). This, for me, is a pretty tight, but livable budget. €1000 also happens to be about exactly what you can earn after-tax working 20 hours/week at at decent student job in Munich.
Other Costs to Consider
An additional note I want to make, which was not mentioned in Strasser's article, is regarding the residence permit (visa), which is required for your stay while studying in Germany. The permit is relatively easy to come by once you have the paperwork together, but you will need €8000 in your German bank account as proof of financial resources. While this money does not have to be directly spent, you will need it sitting in an account somewhere and print an account statement to bring to the local Ausländerbehörde in order to obtain your residence permit. The actual visa, which goes in your passport, will cost you €60.
Other costs to consider: Internet (€5 - €15/month), cell phone contract (€15 - €40/month), third party liability insurance (Haftpflichtversicherung) (€5/month), class materials (no need to buy books, but some classes will require buying cases, for example), purchasing a bicycle, and long-distance travel expenses.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="854"]
Ludwig Maximilians Universität (LMU)[/caption]Yes, studying in Germany is extremely affordable. When you compare it to the United States, it does even seem free. The costs of studying in Germany are incredibly low, so I found it unnecessary to reduce them even further. Therefore, I wanted to share the actual costs of studying in Germany to squash any false perceptions in case you are saving to come study in Germany.
While your education will surely be world-class (available in the US) and significantly cheaper (not available in the US), do not forget that your flight home for Christmas will not be cheaper ;)
If you are interested in studying in Germany, the DAAD is the best resource I can offer.
32 comments
Does this mean you're coming back to blogging? ;-)
ReplyDeleteHey Bev! I am certainly working on it. Slowly but surely realizing how much I miss it :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you're back! I haven't been blogging much either lately, but was surprised at how much I missed it. And, now you've got me wanting to pursue a master's in Germany... (It just doesn't make financial sense back home, unfortunately!)
ReplyDeleteSeriously getting your masters in the states is so expensive. We have actually been looking at master degrees in Germany, so I may be needing this information very soon.
ReplyDeleteGreat read, and thanks for setting the record straight. I did a masters at a private Spanish university in 2012 which cost 4800, but I gad a job, a residency permit and free housing. Far cry from free, but doable! Ugh, but then it cost me 200 more euros to have my degree issued!
ReplyDeleteReally informative! I was lucky enough to get my Master's subsidized through the teaching program i did, so they took $150 out of my paycheck for about 2 -3 years, but ended up costing aroun $2500 -- really cheap as far as master's degrees go, but i'm paying for it now with law school!
ReplyDeletep.s. i miss your posts! (i have also fallen off the face of the world, but still try to read a few of my old faves!)
You know I always appreciate some straight talk, even if it's not totally applicable to me -- thanks for setting the record straight! Glad to see you back writing again :)
ReplyDeleteFor semester free, he wrote €20/month with transportation, which is weird. I guess he should have written €50/month. Otherwise, it seems pretty accurate to me. Of course people need to do research on the rent prices exactly where they want to live (and it was stupid for the guy to write Munich on the table, but I guess he just wanted to write a city name that people would recognize).
ReplyDeleteAnyways, here is to breaking even each month! Although it is a pain in the ass, it is nice to to know I am not adding to my crippling student debt from my Bachelor's degree!
I love that you tackled this article. I'm amazed at how prices fluctuate throughout Germany. My husband has a scholarship from DAAD and they are SO good at providing both information and money! The transport and university costs here in Marburg are not terrible but we set aside 50EUR a month for them since every semester he pays 300EUR for his semester ticket and registration.
ReplyDeleteSure, it's way cheaper than studying in the USA, but certainly not free. That said, we definitely have a better standard of living here with Malcolm's scholarship and my mini-jobs than we'd have in South Africa in our situation (although I'd probably have a better job...). All depends on the city though, since rent is such a large chunk of ones spending.
Yeah the city makes a big difference, which is why I was so upset they portrayed Munich as so cheap. But even in Karlsruhe, where I used to live, the average rent was 350 or so.
ReplyDeleteYeah well he for some reason got the idea that the semester fees pay your public transit ticket, which I think is why he left it at 20/month.
ReplyDeleteHahaha but yeah, breaking even each month is a mega skill I think every student in Germany has. It is pretty amazing know I will walk out of my masters debt free!
Whoa, love that about your Master's subsidy, I did not know there were programs like that in the US. Guess they don't do that for law school though? ;)
ReplyDelete4800 for a private university still seems pretty dang good!
ReplyDeleteYeah, feel free to send me an email or we can Skype it out if you want to know more about studying in Germany. I knew so many Icelandic students in Karlsruhe!
ReplyDeleteYAY you're back! I had no idea it would be affordable. Now maybe I should figure out what to study.
ReplyDeleteGreat article, really important perspective for those considering coming over to Germany to study. The BBC story unfortunately does have a bit of a rose-tinted perspective on student finances here in Germany. I submitted my total monthly budget from my time as a student, and it ran about 800/month, with the NRW ticket and uni fees included. For some reason, Franz didn't include it in the final table. Not sure why. Anyway, it's great that so many people are learning about the opportunities that exist in higher ed over here; it's just unfortunate that so many of them think it's a free lunch now.
ReplyDeleteAwesome thanks so much girl! If we continue to look into this I will def be taking you up on that:)
ReplyDeleteThe Scholarship Pablo got would have given him a little less than 900€ per semester to cover all that but since all three of us came we got a little more. ..Now I'm thinking of getting my masters here, but I need to find the right one!
ReplyDeleteDo you know the name of the scholarship? Could be useful for others looking at financing studies in Germany! Thanks for sharing Diana!
ReplyDeleteIt's a Mexican one, not sure if only for Mexicans but it was through Conacyt.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting - I am glad there is someone out there to actually post the truth about the costs involved. Sorry to hear you have been so busy - I hope it has been a good busy though?
ReplyDeleteThis is such an accurate post, I studied in Munich for two years and even though I was living in Tutzing, I spent about 1000 euros per month and yes for all other options it is still cheap!
ReplyDeleteI love how your break down the misconception of Garching and Munich!
Guten tag doll!
http://www.distinguisheddiva.com/2015/06/lommer-bags-plus-international-giveaway.html
Hallo Alex, so you really need to produce and open up a German bank account to the tune of Euros8,000? Are there other options in case you don't have that amount?
ReplyDeleteOr can you cite a bank to rob or an assassin job..
Definitely a good busy! I just miss it around here :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Adeola Naomi! It is nice to have some more support about costs of living around here.
ReplyDeleteHi Maricel,
ReplyDeleteYou will need a German bank account anyway, but yes the money is understandably difficult. I have heard of students producing parents pay stubs along with a written statement of financial support. Here is more on it from my university: https://www.international.tum.de/en/welcome-to-tum/international-exchange-students/residence-permit/
Such a great perspective. Especially about that flight ;) haha
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you're back in blogging, I went MIA for a few years really. But I'm almost back! Both blogging and physically in Germany! This time though, closer to where you used to be. Always in opposite places in Germany! haha Glad to hear things are well!
Oh wow, great to hear you're back Hanely!
ReplyDeleteGreat read! I'm interested to go to Germany to study, particular at TUM. I'm wondering if you had taken a german language course first before your master's? (is this a requirement?). Or is your master's an english-taught class? (which I might take directly without learning deutsch). Please let me know :)
ReplyDeleteMy master's course is taught entirely in English. There are German courses available at the school if you want to take them alongside your studies. German is not required for the study program.
ReplyDeleteHi , so about the €8000 in your German bank account as proof of financial resources . Does it have to be in Germany or can It be in my home country ? and is there anyway around it ? it's very hard for me to come up with 8000euros at once
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Hi , so about the €8000 in your German bank account as proof of financial resources . Does it have to be in Germany or can It be in my home country ? and is there anyway around it ? it's very hard for me to come up with 8000euros at once
ReplyDeleteThanks!