Have you secured your place at university? A warm welcome. On this page, you’ll find everything you need to get settled: accommodation, funding, essential access information and cards, advice, and life outside your lectures.
For information on organising your studies – including your timetable, course enrolment and examinations – we’ll direct you straight to the FAQs and the guide to starting your studies.
Starting out together: the Student Orientation Days
The Student Orientation Days (STET) take place in the week before lectures begin. In small groups, student tutors from higher semesters will show you around the university, help you put together your first timetable and answer the questions you won’t find in any brochure.
The next Student Orientation Days: 5–8 October 2026
The STET programme, run by student tutors, is aimed at first-year Bachelor’s students. Everything else on this page applies to you just as much, from accommodation and funding to technology. Your first point of contact for subject advice and counselling is the subject advice and counselling service for your degree programme. In addition to the STET programme, there are also special events for our master's students.
Finding a flat or a room in a shared flat
For many, starting university means setting up their first home. Start looking early, as demand is at its highest just before the start of term. You can find rooms in shared flats and flats via online accommodation exchanges and on the noticeboards on campus. In Erfurt, a room in a shared flat costs an average of around 370 euros including bills, which is less than the national average.
Flea markets, second-hand shops and the ‘Puzzlekiste’ swap shop at the university can help you furnish your home.
A place in the residential home
The residential homes are run by the Thuringian Student Services Organisation (Studierendenwerk). You can submit your application online even before you’ve been admitted: from 1 April for the winter semester and from 1 October of the previous year for the summer semester. Most of the accommodation on offer consists of furnished single rooms and studio flats, and you can live there for the entire duration of your standard period of study. Places do become available from time to time, even at short notice.
Register your address
Anyone moving to study should register with the City of Erfurt’s Citizens’ Service, specifying their main or secondary residence. Your main residence is the place where you spend most of your time. For a second home in Erfurt, a second-home tax of 16 per cent of the annual basic rent is payable. Also, don’t forget to update your new address on the student portal.
Insurance and the broadcasting licence fee
Upon enrolment, you are covered by statutory accident insurance; in addition, the Studierendenwerk provides leisure accident insurance, which is funded through the semester contribution. You are responsible for arranging your own third-party liability insurance: unmarried students under the age of 25 who are in their first degree course are usually covered under their parents’ insurance; however, if you have your own flat and your own main residence, you will need your own policy.
A broadcasting licence fee is also payable for each flat; this currently stands at 18.36 euros per month per household. You can apply for exemption from this fee if you have a valid BAföG decision.
Out and about in Erfurt and Thuringia
The Germany Semester Ticket is included in your semester contribution. You activate it once online via the Central Thuringia Transport Association and can use it to travel from 1 October onwards. You can take your bike on the train free of charge, but not on trams or buses. Erfurt itself is compact enough that many journeys are quicker on foot or by bike.
Activate your Germany Semester Ticket
Trams and buses in Erfurt
How much does the degree course cost?
The University of Erfurt does not charge tuition fees. Exceptions to this are further education master's programmes, programmes leading to a certificate, and cases where the standard duration of study has been significantly exceeded.
However, you will pay a semester contribution each term. This includes the contribution to the Studierendenwerk, the contribution to the Student Council, the Deutschlandsemesterticket, the Kulturticket and the fee for the student ID card.
BAföG
In principle, all students who do not have sufficient other sources of income to cover their living costs are eligible for BAföG. Those who no longer live with their parents can receive up to 992 euros per month, half of which is a grant and the other half an interest-free loan.
Apply for the grant as early as possible: payments will be made from the month in which your application is received at the earliest, and not before the month of your matriculation and registration. The easiest way to apply is online via BAföG Digital. The Thuringian Student Services Organisation (Studierendenwerk) is responsible for processing applications.
Other ways of securing funding
Most students combine several sources of income: financial support from their parents, child benefit until their 25th birthday, a part-time job, a position as a student assistant, or a scholarship. In Germany, there are more than 1,750 funding schemes, and many students do not even make an application. The University of Erfurt itself awards ‘Deutschlandstipendien’ of 300 euros a month, regardless of income.
If no one in your family has studied at university before, ArbeiterKind.de offers free advice on all money-related matters.
Deutschlandstipendium (German National Scholarship)
Job placement and advice from the Studierendenwerk
Discounts for students
With your student ID card, you can save money in many places: the ‘Kultursemesterticket’ gives you free entry to the Erfurt Theatre and the city’s museums; many shops and restaurants in the city offer discounts; and for travel, you can get the ISIC international student ID card from the information point in the cafeteria.
Timetable, course enrolment, examinations
Once you have been admitted, it is worth taking a look at the examination and study regulations for your subjects, the module descriptions and the course catalogue. These will explain how your degree programme is structured and what requirements you need to fulfil. You will draw up your first timetable in STET together with your tutors.
There are three things you should know early on: your course enrolment in E.L.V.I.S. is binding and takes place in the third and fourth weeks of the term. You must pass the examinations for the orientation phase in both subjects. And a mentor will be on hand to support you with your study plan for your major subject.
You can find everything else – from a sick note for examinations to re-registration – in the FAQs and the guide.
FAQs on starting your studies Examination regulations Course catalogue
With your university account, you can use the eduroam Wi-Fi free of charge across the whole campus. Set it up on your smartphone and laptop right at the start, and it will also work at other universities worldwide.
Where can I work on campus?
As well as the library, there are quiet study areas scattered across the campus, computer rooms in the Communications and Information Centre, and printers which you can use with your student identity card (thoska). The pocket map shows where everything is.
The first contacts
Nobody knows anyone on the first day, and that’s the good news: at STET, you’ll be out and about with your group and meet lots of people who are in exactly the same boat. At the start of the semester, university groups and student initiatives introduce themselves at the ‘Market of Opportunities’, and you’ll find the freshers’ parties and the campus festival listed in the events calendar.
Get involved and have your say
Whether it’s choirs, theatre, politics, sustainability or higher education policy: at the University of Erfurt, you can get involved as soon as you arrive. Your subject student councils represent your subject, the Student Council represents all students, and students have a say in the university’s committees.
University groups and student initiatives
Subject-specific student councils
Student Council (StuRa)
Design the university together
University sports
The University Sports Association offers more than 150 courses in over 80 sports, ranging from volleyball to climbing and yoga. You can find out more and register from the start of October; online enrolment begins in mid-October. You can set up a login directly using your university email address.
Learning languages
Each term, the Language Centre offers around 140 courses in 16 modern and classical languages, free of charge. Registration opens in the STET at the earliest. Those who prefer to learn through language exchange can find a language partner via the Tandem Programme.
International on campus
At Café International, international and local students meet every Tuesday evening during the lecture period. If you’re new to Germany yourself, you can find support with settling in at the International Office and through the Buddy Programme.
International Office
Buddy Programme
Onboarding for international students
Campus and cafeteria
The campus is situated on Nordhäuser Straße, a good two kilometres from the city centre. You can enjoy affordable meals in the cafeterias and canteens, including vegetarian and vegan options; payment is made cashlessly using your student identity card (thoska). If you’d like to take a look at the university in advance, take the virtual tour.
Discover Erfurt and Thuringia
Erfurt is small enough for you to quickly feel at home, and big enough that there’s always something going on. With your ‘Kultursemesterticket’, you can visit the theatre and the city’s museums; with the ‘Deutschlandsemesterticket’, you can explore Thuringia and the rest of the country at the weekend.
Who advises on what?
The General Student Advice and Counselling Service can help with everything relating to your course of study, any difficulties you may encounter whilst studying, and starting your career. For subject-specific enquiries, please contact your subject advice and counselling service; for organisational matters, please contact the Student and Examination Matters Office in Department 1. And if you’re not sure where to start: the overview in the FAQs sorts all points of contact by issue.
When it all gets too much
A new city, new people, a new system: it’s common for many students to feel overwhelmed when they first start university. The Student Services’ Psychosocial Counselling Service offers free and confidential advice, in English if requested. On the helpline, students listen to you – people who know exactly how you’re feeling. And at the university, there are trained mental health first aiders.
Studying whilst having a child, a disability or special circumstances
The University of Erfurt has held the ‘Family-Friendly University’ seal of approval since 2005 and supports you with, amongst other things, an on-campus nursery and flexible childcare. If you are studying whilst living with a disability or a chronic illness, the Diversity Officer is your first point of contact.
If you experience or witness discrimination or harassment, there are several organisations that offer confidential advice: the Office for Equal Opportunity and Family Services, the Student Council’s Anti-Discrimination Office, and external counselling services for cases of racial discrimination. All contact details and emergency numbers can be found under ‘Advice and help in emergencies’.
A semester or internship abroad
A period abroad can be easily incorporated into your degree programme if you start planning early. Whether through Erasmus, via one of our partner universities or organised independently, the International Office will support you every step of the way, from the selection process right through to the recognition of your credits.
Erasmus programmes
University partnerships
Your path to studying abroad
Internship abroad
Podcast episode "How to Erfurt (Ersties Guide) by studi.life.erfurt
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