The real cost of a master's in Germany: A month-by-month budget for 2026
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"Studying in Germany is free" is only part of the story. Tuition can be close to zero, but everything else still costs real money every month.
"Studying in Germany is free" is the headline that gets shared around. It's not wrong, exactly, but it's not the full picture either. Tuition can genuinely be close to zero. Everything else you need to live, eat, get around, and stay insured still costs real money every single month. Here's what an honest budget actually looks like.
Is studying in Germany really free?
Mostly, yes, at least on tuition. Public universities in Germany don't charge tuition fees for bachelor's or most master's programmes, for students of any nationality. Instead, you pay a semester contribution of roughly €100 to €400, according to DAAD, the German Academic Exchange Service. That contribution usually covers student services, your student union, and often a Semesterticket, a discounted or free regional public transport pass for the semester.
There's one significant exception. In Baden-Württemberg, non-EU and non-EEA students pay €1,500 per semester at public universities, on top of the standard semester contribution, confirmed on the same DAAD page. If you're applying to a university in that state, budget for this separately from the start.
So the "free" headline holds for tuition. It doesn't extend to the rest of your monthly costs, which is where most students underestimate what they'll actually need.
Your monthly budget, broken down
DAAD puts average student living costs at around €842 a month nationally, covering rent, food, transport, health insurance, and phone or internet. That's a useful national anchor, but your real number depends heavily on your city and your habits. Roughly, here's what typically makes up that figure:
Rent. Often the single biggest line item. A room in a Studentenwerk (student union) hall tends to run cheaper than a private shared flat, and both vary enormously by city.
Health insurance. Compulsory for every student in Germany. Statutory providers such as TK, AOK, DAK, and Barmer currently charge around €140 to €150 a month for students under 30.
Food. Budgeting for groceries at discount supermarkets, with occasional use of subsidised university cafeterias (Mensa), keeps this cost manageable for most students.
Transport. Often already covered, or heavily discounted, through your Semesterticket.
Phone, internet, and incidentals. A modest but real monthly cost that's easy to forget when you're planning from abroad.
How your city changes the math
Where you study in Germany can move your monthly budget by several hundred euros. Munich and Frankfurt sit at the expensive end, with total living costs commonly landing between €1,100 and €1,400 a month once rent is included. Leipzig and Jena, along with other smaller university towns, are considerably cheaper, with students often managing on €850 to €1,000 a month for a comparable standard of living.
Neither figure is wrong. They're just different cities with very different rental markets. Before you commit to a programme, it's worth looking up current rent listings for that specific city rather than budgeting on a national average alone.
What part-time work can realistically cover
Many international students plan to work alongside their studies, and it's worth knowing the real numbers rather than assuming it will cover everything.
Under current rules confirmed on the official Make it in Germany government portal, students from outside the EU and EEA can work up to 140 full days, or 280 half days, a year without needing separate approval from the Federal Employment Agency, and up to 20 hours a week during term time.
Germany's statutory minimum wage rose to €13.90 an hour from 1 January 2026, confirmed by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS). Working the maximum 20 hours a week during term at that rate works out to roughly €1,200 a month before tax and social contributions, though many students work fewer hours to balance study and part-time work, and how much actually lands in your account depends on how your earnings interact with Germany's mini-job and tax thresholds.
In practice, part-time work can meaningfully offset your monthly costs. It rarely covers the full budget on its own, especially in your first semester before you've settled into a routine or found consistent hours.
Where a loan fills the gap
Between the blocked account requirement, upfront insurance, and the first month or two before any part-time income kicks in, most students need some form of financing lined up before they arrive.
If you need a blocked account (Sperrkonto) to meet Germany's visa requirements, that's a separate upfront cost from your monthly living budget, and a loan can help you fund it alongside your other costs. Prodigy Finance offers loans with no co-signer* and no collateral, assessed on your future earning potential rather than your family's income or assets, with a interest rates starting from 10.75%*.
Because eligibility and country coverage can vary by intake, the fastest way to know what's available for your specific situation is to check your eligibility directly, which takes a few minutes and won't affect your credit score.
A sample month, two ways
To make this concrete, here's what a typical month might look like in a higher cost city versus a lower cost one. Treat these as illustrative starting points, not guarantees, since your actual numbers will depend on your habits and your specific address.
Munich or Frankfurt (higher cost): rent forming the largest share of a roughly €1,100 to €1,400 monthly total, health insurance around €140 to €150, food and incidentals making up the rest.
Leipzig or Jena (lower cost): a lower rent bringing the monthly total down to roughly €850 to €1,000, with health insurance, food, and incidentals broadly similar to the higher cost cities.
FAQs
Does my semester contribution count towards my blocked account requirement?
Can I rely on a scholarship instead of a loan?
Will working part-time affect my student visa?
Does checking my eligibility with Prodigy Finance affect my credit score?
What if my city isn't Munich, Frankfurt, Leipzig, or Jena?
Plan your Germany budget with confidence
Tuition being close to free is real, but it's only one line in a much longer budget. Once you've mapped your city's rent, insurance, food, and transport costs against what part-time work can realistically add, you'll have a genuine monthly figure rather than a headline.
Planning your budget?
Get an idea of what a loan might realistically cost with our education loan calculator.
