An exchange is possible only for students from our partner universities. Your home university's outgoing coordinator must nominate you for one or two semesters abroad at Paderborn University in due time. After we have accepted the nomination, we will send you a link that you can use to apply online within the communicated application deadline.

German and English language skills on level B1 minimum are recommended. If you have to achieve a certain number of credits, you should make sure in advance that our range of courses enables you to do so.

We regret that we unfortunately cannot accept any free movers.

Paderborn University of does not charge tuition fees.

However, students are required to pay a certain amount per semester (called semester fee - Semesterbeitrag), which includes, among other things:

• the cost of a semester ticket - Semesterticket - which entitles the holder to free use of public transport in North Rhine-Westphalia
• a fee for the General Student Committee (AStA)
• the fee for the Studierendenwerk Paderborn (STW)

After we have received your semester fee and your digital health insurance notification, we can order your semester ticket and your student ID. You can download the semester ticket here, your student ID will be sent through the post. 

Links:

• asta.uni-paderborn.de/en/university-politics/semester-fee/
• asta.uni-paderborn.de/en/service-en/semester-ticket/

Yes, you can attend in courses taught in English. However, kindly inform yourself beforehand if there are enough English taught courses available for the subject of your choice.

• After moving into your accommodation, please contact the residents' registration office by email and make an appointment to register. It is possible that the appointment will take place later than the required 14 days due to high demand, but if you have reported immediately after your arrival, this is not your fault and you do not have to worry.
   
• If you came to Germany with a study visa, make an appointment with the immigration office to apply for your residence permit.
   
• If you have any questions about your dormitory room, please contact the caretaker of the Vogeliusweg dormitory, Mr Schrameyer.
   
• To prove your health insurance, please contact one of the statutory German health insurance companies. They will inform you whether or not your existing health insurance is sufficient. If not, you can take out health insurance there. This applies also if you have an European health insurance card (EHIC). If it is accepted, the health insurer will transfer your health insurance status digitally to the university.
   
• If you mail us a document in which you need us to confirm your arrival date, kindly name the day of arrival in the same e-mail to avoid queries from our side. Please note that we can certify only study-related dates.

• At the beginning of your stay, you need to pay the semester fees and prove your health insurance. When this is done, we can order your semester ticket and your student ID. The payment information for the semester ticket can be found on the Checklist in your Arrival Mail, which we send to all students about 6 weeks before start of the program. You can receive the semester ticket in early March / September, provided the semester fee has been paid and health insurance has been proven. Please download your semester ticket here:
  https://asta.uni-paderborn.de/en/service-en/semester-ticket/

• Your student ID will currently be sent through the post. In the near future, it will be available via App. We will inform you in due time.

• Please note our digital welcome folder for all new exchange students!
   

We wish you a pleasant stay in Paderborn!

We strongly recommend it, especially one of the numerous student bank accounts that impose no or only very few fees. But you are not obligated to establish a bank account; you must only ensure that your rent, the semester fee, and your health insurance fee will be paid regularly.

If you come from a European country, you can also transfer the money online from your account in your home country under specification of the IBAN and Swift codes.

Please note that when transferring money from abroad, fees might arise, depending on the country.

Students from third countries with a residence permit for another EU country have two possibilities:

a) You can apply for a study visa for Germany before arrival.
b) Alternatively, students can ask the International Office to submit their application for residence permit at the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). To apply via BAMF, please contact the International Office at least 6-8 weeks before your arrival. Important information about the documents that need to be submitted is available on the BAMF website.

Important: Your residence permit as student in another EU country must be valid for your BAMF application and throughout your mobility! It is the basis for permission from BAMF!

Two optional German courses are offered for exchange students: the Pre-semester Crash Course (holiday course) before the semester starts and the Semester-Afternoon Course during the semester. Both courses are free of charge.

Pre-semester German Crash Course:

When applying for the exchange program, you will be asked to inform us whether you wish to take part in the Crash Course before the start of the semester. However, you must still register for the Crash Course using an online form. You will be informed about the one-week registration period by the Incoming Team of the International Office by email in due time.

The Crash Course is scheduled for 4 weeks in March and September, with a total of 80 teaching units taking place 4 days a week. Upon successful completion, you will receive 5 ECTS.

Semester-Afternoon German Course:

Participants of the Crash Course can register directly for the Semester Course. Otherwise, registration is also done by using an online form. There is also a one-week registration period, about which you will be informed by the Incoming Team of the International Office by email in due time.

The semester course comprises a total of 120 teaching units. Upon successful completion you will receive 8 ECTS.

Further information, including placement tests, can be found here.

The course is arranged if there are enough students (at least 6 to 8) on the same learning level who want to attend the course and find a common free afternoon appointment (but not Mondays through Thursdays from 16:00 to 18:00, because this is when the semester afternoon courses takes place).

Yes, you also receive ECTS credits for attending the German language courses for exchange students.

The normal ECTS point count amounts to 30 ECTS for a semester for a German student. However, it is very difficult for exchange students to achieve this point count and many partner universities request a decidedly lower number. You should clarify this with your home university before your arrival. Paderborn University does not impose a minimum requirement on finished courses or ECTS.

That depends on your home university. Paderborn University has no deadline.

The only exception are students who come to Paderborn University within the programme Erasmus+ Mobility with Partner Countries / International Credit Mobility. You have to submit the Learning Agreement by certain deadlines. More information will be forwarded automatically by the responsible Erasmus+ ICM coordinator.

Under Study more information is available.

There are two course registration periods at Paderborn University.

It is usually not necessary to register for courses BEFORE your exchange started. Exception: Students of Business Administration and Economics are given the opportunity to register for some courses approximately six weeks before the beginning of the semester. You will receive information from the Faculty in due time.

Registration for courses is done via the campus management system PAUL. You will receive relevant information on how to get access to PAUL at the beginning of your stay at Paderborn University.

All exchange students who are in their second semester at Paderborn University should register via PAUL already in the first course registration phase, since you already have IMT access.

You can find the registration phases and possibly deviating regulations here.

As an exception to the above mentioned regulations, registration for German courses which are offered especially for exchange students is not done via PAUL. You can find further information here.

The Incoming Team of the International Office will inform about the respective registration deadlines by email.

If you have any problems or questions, please contact either the internationalization officers of the faculties or Ms. Struzek.

The registration for exams is done in PAUL.

You will receive information on this at the welcome events of your faculties. In case there is no welcome event for your faculty, you can ask Ms. Struzek. 

Exception: For all courses of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, registration for the module automatically leads to registration for the examination (implicit registration for the examination). A further registration for an examination is not necessary, but it may be necessary to deregister.

Information on the registration periods for examinations can be obtained here.

The Incoming Team of the International Office will inform about the respective registration deadlines by email. If you have any problems or questions, please contact either the internationalization officers of the faculties or Ms. Struzek.

Exams typically take place after the end of the lecture period. Their dates will be set by the faculty, usually during the the lecture period and are not known beforehand. Usually, they are held within the first weeks after the lecture period has ended. We recommend to calculate at least 2-3 weeks for this. However, please note that we cannot give any guarantee, as it is the faculty's decision.

The letter stands for the building, the first number stands for the floor, and the following numbers are the room numbers. For example, the film room H1.232: you find it in building H, on the first floor, in room 232. If the room is only a letter with one number, for example H1 or C2, it is a lecture hall on the ground floor of the respective building (here, H or C).

Since both, courses and examinations, are registered in PAUL, the grades for examinations taken are also entered into PAUL by the lecturers. This can take up to 6 weeks after the end of the semester. The International Office regularly checks which grades are available. As soon as the grades for students are completely available, the Transcript of Record will be issued and sent to you by email. Should your home university require a hardcopy, it will be sent directly to the university.

In PAUL you can also see an overview about your grades at any time.

If you have questions regarding your Transcript of Records please contact Ms. Struzek.

The new semester begins on April 1 and on October 1. You should be re-registered by then. Please make sure to pay the semester fees early enough so that you can receive the new semester ticket and student ID in time.

You can normally stay for a second semester within the same academic year, if both your home university and Paderborn University agree. We regret that an extension into the next acacemic year is not possible. We kindly ask for your understanding.

For an extension, your university needs to confirm their approval by mail to Ms Schrade. You also need to obtain the consent of the academic coordinator in Paderborn. If both sides approve, your stay will be extended and you can re-register for the second semester. If you need to extend your visa, Ms Schrade can issue you a confirmation about your extension for the local immigration office.

Please keep in mind that your room is not automatically at your disposal for a second semester. Please contact the students services as soon as possible to extend your rental agreement. If this is not possible, you might have to look for a new room/ apartment yourself.

Yes, international students are allowed to work up to 120 full days or 240 half days per calendar year. You will receive the Lohnsteuerkarte (wage tax card) from the Einwohnermeldeamt (Residents' Office). As a EU-citizen, you are on equal terms with German students and are not subject to these restrictions.

We regret that Paderborn University does not award scholarships outside the official programmes. However, Paderborn University tries to provide some jobs as student assistants for exchange students who have to pay high tuition fees at their home universities for the time of their stay in Paderborn.

Erasmus students from universities in Erasmus+ programme countries with a corresponding agreement usually obtain a scholarship from their home university.

Students of German Studies can also apply for a DAAD semester scholarship from their home country.

Only through the program "Erasmus+ Mobility with Partner Countries / International Credit Mobility" scholarships are offered to students from the following partner universities:

Bosnia and Herzegovina (University of Sarjevo and University of Mostar), Israel (Bar-Ilan University), Cameroon (Université Yaoundé I), Cuba (Universidad de la Habana), Togo (Université de Lomé), Tunisia (Université de Carthage, Université de la Manouba, Université Ez-Zitouna and Université de Monastir).

Only a very limited number of scholarships are available. The selection of students to receive such scholarships is made by the home universities in the partner country.

Within the limits of international exchange, this is not possible. At the end of your exchange stay, you must return to your home university. But we would be happy to have you apply as a regular international student and then come back to the University of Paderborn. This requires a regular application for degree students (possibly for the DSH Course beforehand) within the official application deadlines. We recommend that you contact the International Office on this behalf already during your stay in Paderborn. Detailled information about the application process is also available on our websites for degree students.

In this brochure you can find all information abut living the hall of residence.

An extension is only possible from the winter semester to the summer semester.

The prerequisite for this is that your home university gives its consent in writing. If the agreed number of places is exceeded as a result, this must be clarified in advance with the programme officer.

An extension from the summer semester to the following winter semester is not possible. A stay for a whole year must always begin in the winter semester (September/October).

All information about moving in and other questions about living in a hall of residence can be found here

You will receive your rental contract as well as some other documents together with the key when you move in.

• Please sign the tenancy agreements and fill out the internet declaration and the SEPA form* for the monthly direct debit from the Studierendenwerk.

• Please put the documents in the letter slot at the STW building at Mersinweg 2 as soon as possible. The box is emptied daily

After processing by the STW, you will receive the following documents back in your mailbox.

• a countersigned rental contract
• the login data for the Internet (your customer number and your apartment number)
• the landlord's certificate for the registrations at the residents' registration office.

Please check your mailbox regularly, but note that it will take a few days until you receive the documents back.

In Germany, each household has to pay a fee for public broadcasting. This applies also to students (of all nationalities) living in shared flats and dormitories. Detailled information is available here:

https://www.rundfunkbeitrag.de/welcome/englisch/students_and_apprentices/index_ger.html

Please notice the following points, which might be relevant before you leave:

• Inform the student services and the Hausmeister of your dormitory abour your exact departure time. 

• Please deregister personally with the city of Paderborn before your departure. Make an appointment at the Residents' Registration Office or by mail and submit the following documents:

  - Identity card/ID card or passport
  - Date of departure
  - Your address abroad
   

• Cancel your German bank account, if you do not need it any longer. If you have questions regarding your blocked accout, please contact the immigration office by mail or phone (8-10 am).

• If you took health insurance in Germany, do not forget to cancel it, possibly by mail. Insert your insurance number as e-mail subject or into the mail text.

• Return any books to the library. Otherwise fees might arise.

• If you mail us documents that need to be signed by the International Office, please include the required data (such as arrival or departure date) in your mail in order to avoid queries from our side.

Sometimes, for example in Business Administration and Economics, this is possible. You should speak with the professors for each course ahead of time, in order to arrange a potential earlier exam date.