Students who have successfully completed their degree, or are no longer pursuing their studies, whether because they are unable to, or do not wish to continue studying although they have not completed a degree in their course of study, are required to submit an application for withdrawal.

Students who are currently studying at Freie Universität Berlin in an undergraduate program and have applied for a graduate program at Freie Universität Berlin need not apply for withdrawal. Students only need to submit the application to change programs with their notice of admission.

Generally, students may submit a formal application for withdrawal to the Student Records and Registration Office at the end of the semester in progress. The signed application can be submitted in addition to the regular postal service by fax (+49 30 838 458630)  or e-mail (info-service@fu-berlin.de). The processing time is usually 5-7 days.

A withdrawal prior to the end of the semester requires a reasoned written statement and the immediate return of your current campuscard to the Student Records and Registration Office.

The possibility of refunding the paid semester fees and contributions after withdrawing is regulated in different ways:

In case of a withdrawal before the commencement of classes, the social fee for the student union (Studierendenwerk) and the student government fee (Studierendenschaft) will be refunded on application. There will be no refund of enrollment or re-registration fee; this fee is due immediately upon enrollment or re-registration. Please take note that the reimbursement may only be issued to the bank account of the original depositor. For more information please refer to Fees and Contributions.

Your contribution for the VBB transit ticket may be refunded by the Semesterticket Office. The required data for an evaluation will be forwarded to the Semesterticket Office by the Student Records and Registration Office. Therefore, the semester ticket fee credited to your account could be deposited with some delay. For questions concerning the amount of the refund please contact the Semesterticket Office directly.

By and large students are permitted to take individual subject-specific examinations and earn certificates for those examinations after withdrawing from university (BerlHG). Please consult the appropriate examination office to discuss your individual case.

According to Sec. 17 (3) of the Bylaws on Academic Matters (Satzung für Studienangelegenheiten) of Freie Universität Berlin, students may be removed from the register by the Student Records and Registration Office for official reasons in any of the following cases:

• If the student has failed to commence his or her studies immediately despite a written request to that effect;
• If the student’s enrollment approval was granted for a limited time only or on a provisional basis (for example, for participation in the preparatory course (Studienkolleg) or in a pre-study language course or with regard to subject-related eligibility for studies) and the requirements for further enrollment are not met (such as if the student fails the language test with no option to retake it);
• If the student fails to re-register at the beginning of the semester despite a written reminder notice that includes threat of removal from the register if the student fails to comply with the re-registration requirements, including exam advising (such as if the student forgets to re-register or fails to participate in exam or end-of-program advising (Prüfungsberatung or Abschlussberatung);

• If the student fails a required test or exam without the option to retake it;
• If the student has successfully completed a course of study and has not submitted a successful application to transfer his or her enrollment to another course of study or a program for a different degree or certificate.

In order to be able to de-register you before the end of the semester, we absolutely need your already validated Campuscard back. Alternatively, you can email us a photo of the cut Campuscard (front and back).

Please note that you will lose your student status at the time of de-registration. This may have consequences, for example, for your health insurance or student financing.