All foreign students (except nationals from EU/EFTA countries as well as from Andorra, Australien, Brasilien, El Salvador, Honduras, Israel, Japan, Kanada, Monaco, Republik Korea, Neuseeland, San Marino, USA) have to apply for a study visa (Visum zu Studienzwecken) at the German Embassy in their home country prior to studies in the Federal Republic of Germany. For further information about visa regulations please contact the German embassy of the concerning country.

Your entry visa has to be approved by the Berlin Immigration Office (Landesamt für Einwanderung) in Berlin which will give you a residence permit for study purposes. Any change of this purpose (i.e. change of course of study or change of university) requires a new residence permit. Further information on residence permit are summarized in a information sheet (pdf-file).

If you need a visa before admission by the university, e.g. in order to take the Studienkolleg entry test or the German language exam (DSH) in Berlin, you may ask the German Diplomatic Mission in your country of residence for an applicant's visa (Studienbewerbervisum). This type of visa is valid for three months and can be converted into an entry visa for study purposes. A visa for a language course and a tourist visa will not be converted into an entry visa.

All students must have proof of full health insurance coverage for the respective semester/year before they can enroll at a German university.

Public Health Insurance

If you are under 30 years of age and do not have a  health insurance from your home country you must purchase a state-regulated health insurance in Germany. It costs about € 105.- per month.

In some cases, it is not possible to acquire the state-regulated health insurance. In this instance, we recommend private health insurance policies.

Private Health Insurance

Students who have provided for insurance abroad in their home country, or students holding a German private health insurance contract, have to get an exemption from the state-regulated German health insurance at one of the insurance companies' branches in Berlin in order to have their own insurance recognized. In cases of illness, the insurance conditions fixed in your insurance policy contract are effective.

Exemption from a German state-regulated health insurance is not revocable.

* Information for Students from EU / EEA countries and Switzerland here

Your living costs mainly depend, of course, on your personal requirements and habits. You should count on spending a minimum of 934 Euro (rental fees, grocery, leisure time etc.). In order to obtain an entry visa or a residence permit for study purposes, you must prove that this monthly amount is at your disposal, independent of any job.

Degree program students with a residence permit for study purposes are allowed to work for a maximum of 120 days (or 240 half days) per year. Jobs as a student tutor at the university do not count.

Students receiving grants are not allowed to work.

Freie Universität is a full-spectrum university, comprising twelve departments and three Central Institutes that together offer more than 150 different academic programs in a broad range of disciplines. Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin is the joint medical school of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. 

The Freie Universität Berlin does not charge any tuition fees (except for continuing education programs), rather so-called "Semestergebühren und -beiträge" (fees and contributions) in the amount of 311.99 € for winter semester 2019/20. 

The legal basis for charging these fees and contributions may be viewed here.

There is only mono bachelor program available in English in ‘North American Studies’ at FUB. Rest all of them are in German. There are several English language programs available for Master's programs. Application modalities can be found in the course description on the respective web pages.

Freie Universität Berlin does not offer any scholarships unless specified in the exchange agreement between our institution and the student’s home university. Students may apply for a scholarship at the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Please see the information portal on recognition of foreign educational qualifications (in German) to find out whether your school diploma confers direct eligibility to study at a German higher education institution. Freie Universität does not evaluate educational documents. Foreign qualifications are evaluated as part of the application procedure to Freie Universität Berlin only. The evaluation is performed by uni-assist for international applications.

Enrollment for an undergraduate study program for which an application would have been required is not possible. However, it may be possible for you to enroll in a single-subject (“mono”) bachelor’s degree program without admission limits or to apply for a lottery procedure. Please note the separate deadlines that apply.

Registration for the language test is possible at the Language Center of Freie Universitaet Berlin. Information on how to register can be found on the following website:https://www.sprachenzentrum.fu-berlin.de/sprachtests/sprachtests_studienbewerber/index.html

Applicants with non-German university entrance qualification, are required to prove German language skills in accordance with the German higher education entrance examination (Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang ausländischer Studienbewerberinnen und -bewerber, DSH ) at Freie Universität Berlin. Our website "undergraduate degree programs" includes information on whether specific language skills are required for admission, and if so, what the requirements are and if language tests are involved. 

Applicants for the first subject-specific semester inform themselves on the websites of the Language Center of Freie Universität Berlin about test dates and test registration. Proof of these language skills can also be provided by means of equivalents to the DSH.

Some study programs require a certain level of English skills. The equivalents that can be accepted by the Department of Application and Admission are to be found here.

The Latin term “Numerus Clausus” means a limited number of placements. The higher education institution does not specify a minimum score; instead, it sets out the number of available spots in the rules on admissions. The average grade, waiting time, or number of points up to which the institution has been able to admit applicants arises from the admission process. For detailed information and the minimum scores for the last few semesters, please click here.

 Information on the documents that must be submitted as part of the application process is available from the pages labeled Application with German general university entrance qualification and Application with non-German general university entrance qualification. As a general rule, application documents can only be submitted before the application deadline.

 If you are interested in completing a doctorate at Freie Universität Berlin, you have two options: the traditional “Individualpromotion” (individual doctorate) and the structured doctorate within a degree program.

Individual Doctorate

The individual doctorate still represents the most common pathway to a doctorate in Germany. Characterized by a strong background in research and a broad range of subject fields, Freie Universität Berlin provides the best opportunities for pursuing an individual doctorate.

Doctorate in a degree program

Over the last years "structured programs" have been established as an alternative way towards a doctoral degree. As part of a graduate school or research training group (or similar) early stage reasearchers take part in a program which differs from the traditional way in both its formal framework as well as the focus on a better integration of doctoral researchers in a group and the wider academic community.

Most doctoral program at Freie Universität Berlin can be found under the roof Dahlem Research School. 

The better you know already which direction to follow in science and what to write about, the easier it will be for you to find an academic advisor who seems to be competent in your field and to contact him or her. If the discipline you studied does not exist at Freie Universität, or if you were graduated from a Master program that was truly interdisciplinary and does not fit the classification of disciplines at FU Berlin. The only way to proceed in these cases is to go through the lists of departments, the institutes or disciplines subsumed, and, finally, persons. 

If not enrolled in a Doctoral program (see below), the first thing you will have to do is to look for a professor who agrees to supervise your dissertation.The supervisor is extremely important for the success of your PhD. They are, often for many years, your main – and sometimes only – advisors with regard to your research and your scientific career. To easy this tedious work a bit for you, we compiled a step-by-step manual “how to find a supervisor”.

Here are some hints for identifying a subject and finding a supervisor for your doctoral research 

Over the last years "structured programs" have been established as an alternative way towards a doctoral degree. As part of a graduate school or research training group (or similar) early stage reasearchers take part in a program which differs from the traditional way in both its formal framework as well as the focus on a better integration of doctoral researchers in a group and the wider academic community.

Most doctoral program at Freie Universität Berlin can be found under the roof Dahlem Research School.

An overview of doctoral program in and around Berlin can found at the website Doctoral Programs in Berlin hosted by the Einstein Foundation. 

The doctorate can be completed in part-time with the approval of the respective doctoral committee. 

Part-time studies can be requested in the Self-Services portal within the respective enrollment or re-registration deadline, no later than at the start of the semester (April 1st or October 1st). Your semester fees and contributions remain unchanged during part-time studies.

A semester studied on a part-time basis will be counted as half of a subject semester (Fachsemester) and a full university semester (Hochschulsemester).

You can utilize the teaching and support resources as a part-time student, however, there will be no entitlement to a distinctive part-time study curriculum. If applicable, please get in touch with the coordinator within your structured doctoral program to arrange the schedule for your part-time study.

 Adequate funding is a cornerstone for the success of your doctorate. Together with Division VI: Research, we aim at providing comprehensive information on research funding and academic career paths for junior researchers at Freie Universität Berlin.

Overview of Funding Opportunities here