The cost of living depends on your lifestyle. However, you cannot influence the average rents or the cost of food and health insurance! So, just being thrifty is not going to help!

The largest monthly expense for students is the rent - mostly a third of their total cost of living.

Yet there are sometimes big differences in the cost of living within Germany. In the big cities such as Munich, Hamburg or Cologne the rents are the highest. Students pay on average 342 Euro per month there. In Chemnitz, Dresden and Jena the average rents, at 222 Euro, are the cheapest. On the other hand, it is easier to find a job in the bigger cities.

What do German students spend their money on?

On average German students have about 812 Euro at their disposal (source: 19. Sozialerhebung, 2009):

Not included here are term fees which have to be paid on receipt of confirmation of admission. So, especially at the beginning of term you will have more expenses than usual. In many locations you may have to reckon with much higher rents. Rents across Germany differ greatly!

Mostly, international students have less money than their German counterparts and must manage on an average of 725 Euro per month.