6 ms·

Why do you need the money upfront? If you move here on a student visa, you are also able to work here and support yourself financially. Also most fees are paye

Why do you need the money upfront? If you move here on a student visa, you are also able to work here and support yourself financially. Also most fees are payed on a half-year Basis, Students have Access to cheap housing. For example the city I live in (Leipzig) has yearly Uni fees of ~500 EUR, monthly lodging for ~300 EUR. Assuming you work weekends, you can easily earn ~800 EUR per month which gives you enough wiggle room to eat at the Uni canteen (price per meal 2-5 EUR, heavily subsidized by the state). In the study breaks you are able to work more. Edit: University Leipzig lists [0] the following costs of living on "average" per month: 231 EUR lodging; 140 EUR food; 50 EUR clothing, cosmetics; 45 EUR ISP, mobile, netflix; 50 EUR partying; 35 EUR misc; 30 EUR books & materials; 40 EUR for fees and local transport => 621 EUR month [0]: https://www.leipzig-studieren.de/studium-organisieren/was-kostet-das-studium/ https://www.leipzig-studieren.de/studium-organisieren/was-ko...

yorwba 6y ago
To get a student visa for Germany, you need to prove that you have at least 10k euros to cover your living expenses for one year: https://www.study-in-germany.de/en/plan-your-studies/requirements/proof-of-financial-resources_27533.php https://www.study-in-germany.de/en/plan-your-studies/require... Also, students from most countries are not allowed to work more than 120 full (8-hour) days per year: https://www.daad.de/en/study-and-research-in-germany/first-steps-germany/side-jobs/ https://www.daad.de/en/study-and-research-in-germany/first-s... If you can find a job that pays significantly more than minimum wage, that's not going to be much of an issue, but otherwise you might have to control your spending very carefully.
- hef19898 6y ago
  Working students are paid, at the very least, 15 Euro per hour. Mostly tax free, you only pay a token amount for social security. Max. weekly working hours are, if I remember well, 10ish during semesters. During semester breaks, no such limits apply. And going from the number of non-EU working students I met and worked with, it can't be that hard to be eligible. Not sure about the legal details, so I could be wrong. Fun fact, in my last working student job before graduation I earned more net during the brake per month than in my first full time job in the first 6 months. Of course, being full time counts towards retirement and a couple of other things working students are not eligible for. But still.
  - R0b0t1 6y ago
    I investigated schooling in Germany. It is not really attainable for most US citizens. You need course credits typically only available in college, and you need to know German before you go. The reports of people learning German at the same time as they go are very poor, it tends to not work out. In my case I do know enough to transfer into a program but as I haven't completed a degree there seems to be no way to get those credits recognized.
- leipert 6y ago
  I wasn't aware of the 10k Euros, makes sense. TBH a smart idea anyway, because in the first few months after a move to a foreign country you are likely spending more time on learning language, culture, dealing with bureaucracy, etc. Also interesting that you are not able to self-employ as a foreign student. This is how I worked most of the time while studying. Anyhow, spending money carefully is kinda implied with the numbers above. But we were mostly discussing money spent compared to the US, here is an example. Let's assume you want a BSc in Computer Science. According to [0] tuition alone is around ~25k USD for an affordable Uni in the US, while 870 EUR monthly expenses [1] TOTAL * 36 months around = 37930 USD for a BSc. And this is comparing a rather low tuition with average total cost of living in Germany. [0]: https://www.geteducated.com/online-college-ratings-and-rankings/best-online-bachelors-in-computer-science/ https://www.geteducated.com/online-college-ratings-and-ranki... [1]: https://www.unicum.de/de/studentenleben/geld-finanzen/lebenshaltungskosten-studium https://www.unicum.de/de/studentenleben/geld-finanzen/lebens...

yorwba 6y ago

To get a student visa for Germany, you need to prove that you have at least 10k euros to cover your living expenses for one year: https://www.study-in-germany.de/en/plan-your-studies/requirements/proof-of-financial-resources_27533.php https://www.study-in-germany.de/en/plan-your-studies/require... Also, students from most countries are not allowed to work more than 120 full (8-hour) days per year: https://www.daad.de/en/study-and-research-in-germany/first-steps-germany/side-jobs/ https://www.daad.de/en/study-and-research-in-germany/first-s... If you can find a job that pays significantly more than minimum wage, that's not going to be much of an issue, but otherwise you might have to control your spending very carefully.

hef19898 6y ago
Working students are paid, at the very least, 15 Euro per hour. Mostly tax free, you only pay a token amount for social security. Max. weekly working hours are, if I remember well, 10ish during semesters. During semester breaks, no such limits apply. And going from the number of non-EU working students I met and worked with, it can't be that hard to be eligible. Not sure about the legal details, so I could be wrong. Fun fact, in my last working student job before graduation I earned more net during the brake per month than in my first full time job in the first 6 months. Of course, being full time counts towards retirement and a couple of other things working students are not eligible for. But still.
- R0b0t1 6y ago
  I investigated schooling in Germany. It is not really attainable for most US citizens. You need course credits typically only available in college, and you need to know German before you go. The reports of people learning German at the same time as they go are very poor, it tends to not work out. In my case I do know enough to transfer into a program but as I haven't completed a degree there seems to be no way to get those credits recognized.
leipert 6y ago
I wasn't aware of the 10k Euros, makes sense. TBH a smart idea anyway, because in the first few months after a move to a foreign country you are likely spending more time on learning language, culture, dealing with bureaucracy, etc. Also interesting that you are not able to self-employ as a foreign student. This is how I worked most of the time while studying. Anyhow, spending money carefully is kinda implied with the numbers above. But we were mostly discussing money spent compared to the US, here is an example. Let's assume you want a BSc in Computer Science. According to [0] tuition alone is around ~25k USD for an affordable Uni in the US, while 870 EUR monthly expenses [1] TOTAL * 36 months around = 37930 USD for a BSc. And this is comparing a rather low tuition with average total cost of living in Germany. [0]: https://www.geteducated.com/online-college-ratings-and-rankings/best-online-bachelors-in-computer-science/ https://www.geteducated.com/online-college-ratings-and-ranki... [1]: https://www.unicum.de/de/studentenleben/geld-finanzen/lebenshaltungskosten-studium https://www.unicum.de/de/studentenleben/geld-finanzen/lebens...