Germany

With high-ranking univesities, low tuition fees, beautiful countryside and bustling cities, it’s no wonder Germany is becoming an increasingly popular destination for international students. If you want to broaden your horizons and immerse yourself in a new culture by studying abroad, but don’t want to break the bank, Germany might be the place to study for you.

My name is Christine Mittler and I am a PhD student in aerospace engineering at the University of Queensland (UQ) in Brisbane. I moved to Australia around five years ago and I am originally from Germany.

In December 2017, I arrived in Melbourne with a working holiday visa and a plan to stay for half a year in Australia before returning to Munich. There is a saying in German that I have heard a few times in Bavaria: “Erstens kommt es anders und zweitens als man denkt”. It translates roughly as “things turn out differently to how you think”.

Germany is a popular study-abroad destination, not least because 16 German states abolished tuition fees for both domestic and international undergraduate students at all public universities in 2014.

However, even if you are eligible for free tuition in Germany, there will still be other costs you’ll need to consider if you want to study there, including accommodation, food and flights.

Finding accommodation that is safe, close to campus and affordable is a concern for all students. For international students, an added difficulty is that they often cannot see the accommodation in advance. And, unfortunately, there are those who try to take advantage of this and create accommodation scams.