Uni-Tübingen

Study funding for degree-seeking international students in Tübingen

This webpage aims to give a first overview of financing opportunities for degree-seeking international students in Tübingen. It is neither exhaustive, nor can be guaranteed that all information is completely accurate or up-to-date. What it can do, however, is provide a starting point for further search.

In many, albeit not all, cases, a certain level of German language proficiency is crucial to qualify for a scholarship (mostly B2 or C1). Therefore, it might be a good idea to visit some German language courses, e.g. of those offered by the University, even if the selected study program is solely taught in English.

As the primary target group of this page is degree-seeking international students, not all options listed below will be available for other groups.
It is advisable to search and apply for a scholarship as early as possible, as for some scholarships you will have to apply before you begin your studies (most notably the DAAD and Avicenna Master scholarships).

NB: The exact details concerning eligibility, requirements, and application for any funding source mentioned on this page should always be obtained directly from the institution offering it.

Scholarships

In Germany, usually no full scholarships (i.e. covering cost of living as well as tuition fees) are offered by the universities themselves. Instead, students have to search and apply for a scholarship on their own. There is a multitude of organisations that offer funding, and whose criteria can range from study performance up to financial need or marginalization.

The following information in general refers to international degree-seeking students who are not from the EU. For EU-students, different criteria might apply (this will be usually mentioned by the respective organization.).

DAAD

Sources: Scholarship database

This extensive database with a multitude of organizations and institutions offers a customizable search function, e.g. according to study goal, field, and home country:

Scholarship for Master studies

The DAAD itself also offers scholarships for Master students. Please note that for those, it is essential to apply before the beginning of studies ("A Master's degree programme already started in Germany cannot be funded"), and that the deadline is very early, i.e. almost one year before study start: Currently you will have to apply until late autumn for a program beginning in the winter semester in the following year, e.g. for studies beginning in WS 2024/25 you will have to apply until November 15, 2023 (deadline as per DAAD website, April 2024).

Future Ukraine: Research Grants for Ukrainian Master´s students and researchers

A dedicated program for Master students and doctoral candidates from Ukraine is offered under the following link:

Deutschlandstipendium

One of the "smaller" (300€/month) scholarships open to students with high academic performance (the average (German) grade has to be 1,40 or better; in the first semester, the grades are taken from the “Abiturzeugnis” (university entrance qualification certificate)). Applications are made directly via the University of Tübingen. There is only one application period per year (usually in November).

German language proficiency is not required for this scholarship.

STIBET grants

  • The STIBET Study Completion Grant is a scholarship by the DAAD with a restricted, clearly defined target group: It is only available to students who are close to graduation and encountering unexpected financial difficulties. The grant usually amounts to about 550€ per month with a maximum duration of 3 months.
  • The STIBET Student Engagement Grant is a scholarship by the DAAD for which students are eligible who have shown outstanding engagement in the international context of their university. The grant usually amounts to about 550€ per month with a maximum duration of 3 months.
  • The STIBET Equal Opportunity Grant targets students in special circumstances which merit financial compensation. Eligible are, for example, students with a chronic illness or disability which causes expenses not covered by a third party.
    The grant usually amounts to about 300€ per month with a maximum duration of 5 months.

Here you can find a handout with an overview of all three scholarships.

Further information can be obtained from the Support for International Students.

Stipendium Plus

This website features the 13 largest foundations and organisations in Germany which offer scholarships to gifted students, most of them with a political or religious affiliation. Not all might be suitable for a student’s specific situation, therefore the information on the organisations’ own websites should be perused in depth, and any remaining doubts or uncertainties should be resolved by contacting the organisation directly via mail or phone.

A political affiliation of a fund (as, e.g., "Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung" with the Social Democratic Party) does not mean that applicants have to be members of the respective party, although most organisations will require them to identify (or at least align) with their core values.

For most scholarships of these organisations, a certain proficiency in German is necessary (e.g. because the interviews will be held in German) and most will also require a corresponding certificate (mainly level C1 or B2). Grants from these organizations will be amount to the current BAföG rate (cp. here).

Some organisations offer more than one scholarship (e.g. an additional scholarship for refugees, or different scholarships for EU- and international non-EU students). Please check the websites to see what scholarships are available. The following links lead to the “main” scholarship for international non-EU students.

The organisations are (affiliation in parentheses):

Barrierefrei Studieren ("Accessible Studying")

This website focusses on support for students with disability or chronic illness. There is a special section about funding opportunities, and some of them are also open to international students.

MyStipendium

This website, which names itself “scholarship platform”, contains information about scholarships in Germany in general as well as about other financing options. It prompts users to create a detailed profile first, which requires a sizeable amount of personal data. This profile in turn is automatically checked against the criteria of the scholarships in their large database.

e-fellows

Another, quite extensive, scholarship database with various sources, which can be filtered to various criteria, e.g. gender, subject, region, or type.

Pre-customized search for international Bachelor students:

Pre-customized search for international Master students:

Pre-customized search for international students in a study program with state examination:

In case the links do not work, proceed as follows:

  • Scroll down to the black box with the text input field.
  • Open “Filter” below the field, then “Zielgruppen”.
  • Check “Ausländische Studenten/Wissenschaftler“.
  • Then open “Bildungsphasen” (below the text input field on the right-hand side at the top).
  • Now check the following box for a specific scholarship type: “Bachelor-Studenten” for Bachelor scholarships, “Master-Studenten” for Master scholarships, and “Lehramtsstudenten / Staatsexamen” for scholarships for programs with state examination.

Förderdatenbank

This database by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs contains various funding opportunities, not only for studying.

Begabungslotse

A website with a scholarship search function, as well as extensive general information about and for gifted pupils, high school and university students, and also for their teaching staff.

Stiftungssuche

Another database, in this case one of German foundations which offer scholarships. Not as large as the DAAD database, but sometimes more specialized (e.g. for specific fields, programs, regions or even universities etc.), and lesser known grants can be found. The smaller database, “Stiftungssuche Basic”, can be used free of charge.

Baden-Württemberg Stipendium (target group: exchange students)

Please note that this is similar to an exchange program and will only fund a temporary study stay in Tübingen. Degree-seeking students, i.e. students whose complete program will be at the University of Tübingen, are not the target group for this scholarship. It is mentioned here primarily for the sake of information.

The scholarship by the Baden-Württemberg Stiftung is aimed at highly qualified students who intend to spend 1 or 2 semesters at a university in Baden-Württemberg, regardless of the field of study, and including doctoral students. Successful applicants are automatically exempt from paying tuition fees for international students as well (cp. https://uni-tuebingen.de/en/100463).

There are two versions, the "main" scholarship and "REK" ("regional scholarship") as well as some other programs:

For both scholarships, there is no requirement concerning language proficiency certificates. To apply or receive more information about the application process, (not degree-seeking) students should turn to the International Office of their home university.

BAföG

BAföG (“Federal Training Assistance Act”) is a student loan granted by the state, of which only 50% have to be repaid, with an overall cap at currently 10.010€. It is mainly aimed at German students, but in certain cases, international students might also qualify. Ukrainian students, e.g., have access to BAföG,  as do students recognized as refugees, entitled to asylum, or to subsidiary protection.

Information and contact persons can be found here:

General information about BAföG for international students (currently only in German) can be found here:

On-campus consultation is available at the "BAföG-InfoPoint" in Tübingen:

Student loans

Students who at least have the status of educational residents might apply for a "KFW student loan", for an "Educational loan" ("Bildungskredit", offered by the federal government), or for a short-term, interest-free loan for economic emergency situations offered by the Studierendenwerk Tübingen-Hohenheim.

More information about these three loans:

Other financial aid for emergency situations

Other financial aid for emergency situations is available from:

Housing allowance ("Wohngeld")

In some, although extremely rare, cases of high rent combined with low income, students might apply for housing allowance. Without making an actual application, however, it is not possible to assess if, or how much allowance can be received. It is also necessary that a previous BAföG application had been made and was rejected. More information, points of contact, and the online application itself can be found here (currently only in German):

Student jobs

Working while studying is one of the most popular forms of financing studies. There are certain limits to the amount of time international students (from non-EU countries) are allowed to work: the maximum is 140 complete or 280 half days in a year. For longer durations, you have to obtain permission from the Immigration Office.

Please keep in mind that side jobs can have a positive as well as a negative impact on your studies: Positive impacts are, e.g. gaining professional and/or academic (depending on the job) experience, networking – and, of course, money. On the other hand, negative effects may be lack of time available for studying or possible physical or mental exhaustion due to the job or overall workload. In case of problems with work-study balance or other difficulties in this context, the Student Counseling Service can offer support.

Working at the university

One of the most popular student jobs, especially for those interested in research and teaching, is the job as a student assistant at the university. It also usually offers study-friendly working hours, the opportunity to gain more insight into academic work, and even teaching other students, e.g. as a tutor. Student assistants support the academic staff in many respects, as, e.g., proofreading essays, creating and editing videos or podcasts, maintaining the department website, tutoring younger students, offering IT support or working in the library.

These student jobs usually are excluded from the 140-day limit (but to be on the safe side, nevertheless do ask the Immigration Office/Ausländeramt if this applies to your specific job).

The university can announce these positions on several sites, e.g. on their own page with job offers https://uni-tuebingen.de/universitaet/stellenangebote/freie-stellen/ (also available in English, but the German pages will usually list more items), in the Praxisportal: https://www.praxisportal.uni-tuebingen.de/, or posting vacancies on-site as paper bulletins in the department building. It may also be helpful to contact the academic staff directly and declare interest in a student assistant job.

Working outside the university

Similar to scholarships, the range of job opportunities will greatly increase if a student has acquired an at least basic proficiency in German. This does not mean that English-only speakers are without options, however. On the one hand, there are “traditional” student jobs that require only a minimum or even no language expertise, as, e.g. sometimes in gastronomy. On the other hand, Tübingen is an international city, not only due to its student clientele, but also because of the strong economy in the region, and thereby the presence of international companies where German language proficiency is a less important factor. Especially larger technology, electronics, media, engineering, or IT companies that rely on English as their lingua franca might have jobs for students who know little German. In this regard, it might also be useful to have a look at Stuttgart and its surroundings (~50km from Tübingen and easily accessible by public transport) where many big technology companies have branches.

Furthermore, the Praxisportal of the University of Tübingen also lists jobs outside of academia (and can be filtered for English-only jobs):

The Federal Employment Agency offers a job search machine (currently only in German) for a variety of employment types:

Although there is no option to specifically filter for student jobs, searching for "Minijob", "Mini Job", "Studierendenjob", "Studentenjob" or only "Student"/ "Studierender"/ "Studierende"/ "Studenten" can output some viable results. Minijobs are a type of marginal employment (usually part-time and low wage; they can also be only short duration jobs). They are tax-free, without social charges, and often compatible with student working conditions. Multiple minijobs can be combined, provided the overall income does not exceed 538€ per month. If in doubt about the conditions, please contact the Immigration Office.

Another option could be to approach a company you are interested in working for directly and ask for any vacancies for a student with (your) specific qualification.

Please note that international non-EU students are prohibited to work on a freelance/self-employed basis unless they have obtained permission from the Immigration Office.

Internships / Work placements (paid and unpaid)

In some study programs, internships are a mandatory part of the course of study. In other ones, they are not even mentioned; but in any case, internships can be an important way to gain an insight into various professional fields and work methods, and may thus also help making decisions about future career moves.

Unfortunately, not all internships are paid. Nevertheless, some are, and particularly for longer ones (i.e. those with more than 3 months duration), minimum wage has to be paid. Mandatory internships also are exempt from the 140-/280-days rule, while voluntary internships are not.

You can find internships via the University’s own Praxisportal: https://www.praxisportal.uni-tuebingen.de/ (including English-only positions), via the job search machine of the Federal Employment Agency: https://www.arbeitsagentur.de/jobsuche/suche?angebotsart=34&id=16917-9697901-S (preconfigured link, if it does not work, please select from the drop-down field to the left of the search bar “Praktikum/Trainee” instead of the default “Arbeit” and, if required, specify the location/region/post code, and range at “Wo suchen Sie?” and “Umkreis”), or via other, also commercial, portals.

More information on working while studying, by the DAAD: