FAQ for Preparatory German Course

Shortly after your admission by the Admissions Office, you will receive via C@mpus information about the preparatory German language course as well as the invitation to register for it. In order to do so, please transfer 500 euros (course fee down payment + placement test fee) to the university's bank account as mentioned in the invitation and within the deadline mentioned in the invitation and on this website.

As soon as your payment has been credited to our bank account (this usually takes several days and up to a week), we will send you an email that confirms to you that you have been registered and invited to the placement test and that you are guaranteed a place in the University's preparatory German language course.

Paying the course fee down payment (450 euros) and placement test fee (50 euros), in total 500 euros, is to guarantee you a place in the preparatory German language course (you'll need this e.g. for being given your visa) and is a security for us that your course registration is binding. If you attend the course after your registration, your registration fee will be deducted from your course fees, i.e. you have already paid 500 euros and will have to pay only the rest of your course fees.

An example: You paid 500 euros (course fee down payment + placement test fee) and you are guaranteed a place in the course. You will need our confirmation that you have got a place for your visa application. After receiving your visa, you will come to Stuttgart, you will do the placement test at the start of the course and you are placed e.g. on level B2/C1. The level B2/C1 course fees are 1600 euros (please note: not the actual course fees!). The 500 euros you already paid will be deducted from these 1600 euros. So, you will actually have to pay 1100 euros at the start of the course.

Your registration is binding. However, if you de-register (by email) before the registration deadline stated on this website and in the invitation to the German course, we will refund your course fee down payment (450 euros) if you have not yet been enrolled as a student of Stuttgart University. The placement test fee will not be refunded.

If you de-register after the deadline has passed or if you de-register after you have been enrolled as a student of Stuttgart University, we will refund your course fee down payment only if you are not responsible for your de-registration (e.g. in case of illness or late issue of your visa). The placement test fee will not be refunded.

In case you are responsible however, we will not refund your payment after the registration deadline has passed or after you have been enrolled as a student of Stuttgart University.

Please inform us by email - if possible one week before the placement test - that you will not be able to come to Stuttgart for the placement test because you have not received your visa in time or because you are ill. We will inform you if and when we can offer you a second placement test that will allow you to join the course late.

Usually, we offer a second placement test about two weeks after the first one.

If can show us that you are not responsible for the late issue of your visa, we will refund your course fee down payment (450 euros). Please prove to us (e.g. by sending us your email contact with the German embassy) that you applied for your visa in time and that your visa was issued too late for you to take the placement test. The placement test fee will not be refunded.

You can still register for the course even if it has already filled up or/and if the registration deadline has passed. In this case however, we will inform you by email that there is no place available at the moment and that therefore we can put your name onto the waiting list.

In this case, you will have to wait until the course has started in order to see if a place is available. Places in the course may become available if other students who had already got a place in the course de-register later.

As long as you are on the waiting list, we cannot guarantee you that you will be able to join the course. Therefore, we unfortunately cannot confirm to you or the embassy that you have got a place in the university's preparatory German language course.

If you do not wish to be put onto the waiting list, please inform us by email: We will in this case refund in full the course fee down payment and the placement test fee you paid.

No: You will not have to pay any tuition fees (Studiengebühren) during the German language course. You will have to pay course fees (Kursgebühren). The course fees depend on the level that you will start the course on (B1, B2 or C1) and how many levels you will have to pass to the TestDaF exam. Your level will be found out in the placement test. You will find the course fees of the different courses on the website of the preparatoy German language couse: Please click on courses offered on the website. You will have to pay these course fees at the beginning of the course.

When you enroll at Stuttgart University during the preparatory German language course, you will furthermore have to pay the semester fee (Semesterbeitrag).

You will not have to pay any tuition fees as long as you are in the preparatory German language course. Once you have passed the TestDaF exam at the end of the course and started your B.A. programme, you will have to pay a 1500 euro tuition fee if you come from a non-EU country. For M.A. programmes, there are different fees.

Please find here more information about the semester fee and the different tuition fees and how much they are currently.

After the course started and you fully paid the course fees, you will be enrolled as a student of Stuttgart University. Please note that for your enrollment, you will have to pay the semester fee (Semesterbeitrag) but no tuition fees (Studiengebühren).

As long as you did not pay the course fees in full, you cannot be enrolled.

Accomodation is not included in the course fees. Therefore, you will have to find a room or an apartment yourself. Please find here information and tips on how to find accomodation in Stuttgart.

The placement test will be onSET. Please find information on onSET placement test on the onSET website (in German only). On the website, you will find a Beispieltest (sample test) you can do in order to see how the test works.

Dates and fees of the preparatory German language course of the following winter semester will be announced in March and those of the following summer semester in September. Until they are announced, please refer to the preparatory course of the current or next semester: The dates and fees of future semesters will be roughly the same.

In any case you will have to apply to be admitted at Stuttgart University before you will be invited to the German language course and before you can register. Please read here how to apply.