Refund of the student union fee
Reimbursement of the admin fee
Exemption from account management charges
International student ID card (ISIC)
URRmEL - the self-help bike repair shop by students, for students
As a general rule: fees cannot be remitted, reduced or deferred. There is no claim to partial reimbursement of the fee if you are exmatriculated or if your matriculation is revoked during the semester.
Students who are entitled to free use of short-distance public transport due to their disability can have their fee to use public transport reimbursed upon application and verification.
A refund of the student union fee is possible if:
1. The student union fee was paid when not matriculated (§ 6, para. 1 BO)
2. You are exmatriculated before or within two weeks of the aforementioned semester/ academic year (§ 6 para. 1 BO)
3. You are exmatriculated after the beginning of the aforementioned semester because you have transferred to another higher education institute before the end of the first month of the semester/academic year. (§6 para. 2 BO) (Deadline extension of one month should the beginning of the semester at the other higher education institute, upon verification, be later than at the institution in which you were initially matriculated)
Refunds are not permissible in any other circumstances.
Please address any questions about a refund of the student union fee to stwbeitrag[at]stw.uni-heidelberg[dot]de
You can find information about the application deadlines in the application guidelines on fee refunds and fee regulations.
In certain cases you can receive a reimbursement of the admin fees from the University of Heidelberg. For example, if you are exmatriculated at the latest one month after the beginning of term time, then the money you have already paid will be refunded.
Application form for admin fee refunds. You must apply for an admin fee refund at the respective higher education institute!
You can find application forms and guidelines of other higher education institutes at the student office of the particular institute.
The rule is: one accommodation - one fee. This fee is currently €18.36 a month. The fee need only be paid one time in a flat share.
People who receive social security payments (ALG II, benefits, etc.), people with serious disabilities and BAföG recipients who do not live their parents can be exempted from payment.
You can find everything you need to know online here.
If you receive grants (BAföG payments) or are for other reasons exempt from paying TV licence, then you can apply for a so-called 'social tariff' (Sozialtarif) at German telecom (Telekom). Students who are blind, deaf or have a speech impairment (degree of disability at least 90%) are eligible for the social tariff.
As part of the social tariff, you receive a monthly talk credit of €6.94. Disabled students receive €8.72. However, the credit can only be used on a Telekom landline (ISDN or similar). If you call using another provider, then your credit expires.
The credit is only applicable for calls - so not for monthly basic charges - and must be used each time within one month. The credit expires if less than €6.94/€8.72 is used on calls in a month.
Application: at the Telekom shop upon presentation of a BAföG confirmation, or certificate proving exemption from TV licence, or online on the Telekom website.
Many banks offer free of charge current accounts or current accounts with particular additional benefits for students. However, one of the conditions is often that money must be paid into the account on a regular basis (e.g. from parents, BAföG, or income).
In any case, it's worth comparing offers beforehand and to look closely at the fine print: a EC card can sometimes be free, but can also cost you extra; interest could be or could not be paid on accounts in credit; even the credit limit can be different.
As a general rule, students must have health and nursing care insurance - either on their parents' insurance or on student health insurance.
This rule also applies to foreign students, with the exception of students from countries with which Germany has signed a social agreement that includes a paragraph about insurance. These students can remain insured in their country of origin. Provided this applies to you, please obtain the E-111 replacement certificate form at home. After this form has arrived, you must present it to an official medical insurance company where you are studying.
If you are not yet older than 25 (plus in military or community service), then you can remain insured on your parents' dependents' co-insurance and you do not need to pay your own contribution. However, if you have a job on the side, then you must keep to the earnings levels - if not, you are no longer covered by dependents' co-insurance. You can find info here.
Students can use official student health insurance until they reach the age of 30, or before the end of the 14th semester. Student health insurance costs the same at all official medical insurance companies.
Even if you change your course or take on a second degree course, you can still remain insured on student health insurance. The semesters studied during your first degree are not counted if you change your course or begin a second degree - you can remain insured for a further 14 semesters. However, this is only the case until you reach the age of 30.
Students are insured against accidents during activities which are originally related to the higher education institute. This also includes getting to and from the institution, excursions and internships. If you are a sports student, accidents are part of normal training. For another students, accidents during sport undertaken at university are jointly insurance (Unfallkasse Baden-Württemberg: www.ukbw.de).
For more detailed information in regard to the accident insurance, for example while you're working on your diploma project, master or doctor dissertation, or working in an internship, you will find here. Also information about accidents happened in connection with your private activities.
Studierendenwerk Heidelberg
Compliance, Marstallhof 1, room 305
69117 Heidelberg
Tel.: 06221 54-2386
E-Mail: compliance[at]stw.uni-heidelberg[dot]de
Subject to the following conditions, compensation can be awarded if clothes or students' bicyles are stolen:
Claim reports must be submitted to the Heidelberg student union. Before doing this, you must report the theft to the police. If the theft concerns a bicycle, then you will also need to present a certification from the local lost and found office confirming that the bike has not been found. This certification can be issued at the earliest 14 days after the theft has taken place.
Heidelberg student union
Compliance
Marstallhof 1
69117 Heidelberg
Tel.: 06221 54-2386, Email: compliance[at]stw.uni-heidelberg[dot]de
Info and damage reports
Important: your application cannot be processed if you cannot present a valid certificate of enrolment.
Further infos: www.heidelberg.de/frauennachttaxi
Similar rules apply to female students who want to continue on to Dossenheim.
The night taxi (between 22:00 and 6:00) is available for both male and female students (aged up to 25) whose main residence is in Dossenheim. You can travel from Heidelberg to Dossenheim for €7.50. Collective journeys of up to four people are also available. You can buy your tickets at the Citizens Advice Bureau in the town hall: Rathausplatz 1, 69221 Dossenheim.
Central taxi rank number: 06221 302030
Taxi HDirekt number: 06221 739090
Detailed information from the Dossenheim municipality
Mobile for the whole semester
Be mobile, save money, and do something for the environment? You can do all of that with the Semesterticket!
A contract with the traffic-network Rhein-Neckar (VRN) makes it possible, that students at the University of Heidelberg, the Pedagogic University Heidelberg, the University for Jewish studies Heidelberg and the University for Church music are able to travel cheaper with the public transport. All students pay a solidarity fee of €35.30 each semester. This is used as basic funding for the Semesterticket and further services provided by the transport federation - in particular the so-called free of charge evening, weekend and bank holiday travel, which is financed by €5 of the €35.30 you pay.
All students of the University of Heidelberg, the Pedagogic University of Heidelberg, the Pedagogic University Heidelberg, the University for Jewish studies Heidelberg and the University for Church music may, with their student ID, travel on buses and trains free of charge, daily, from 19:00, during the whole weekend and bank holidays. This offer is valid within the VRN-Area without Westpfalz (former WVV-Area). In this way, all students who paid the solidarity fee are offered a service in return.
Scope
All public transport which is not subject to surcharges (including the Heidelberg Mountain Railway) within the VRN tariff zone, which ranges from Kaiserslautern main station and Wissenbourg in France to Wertheim and Würzburg!
Validity period
6 months each time
Price
€175 for six months, conjunction ticket €197,60. The city of Heidelberg subsidizes the price of the semesterticket with €2,50, when you purchase the ticket in the online-shops or Apps of the RNV GmbH as well as the DB Regio AG.
First-semester students in Heidelberg receive a one-time complimentary Semesterticket.
There are refunds for public transportation costs for college students and trainees.
The city of Heidelberg has a special welcoming present for freshmen at the Heidelberg University: The city has for you a one-time refund of the costs for the semesterticket of "Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar GmbH" (VRN) as of summer semester 2020. The semesterticket in 2020 costs 175€ per semester. College students as well as trainees will also receive a refund for purchased VRN season tickets up to the price of a semesterticket. This was decided by the Heidelberg local council at a meeting on Thursday, 13. February 2020. The conditions: The students or trainees must have established their main (or only) living address in Heidelberg after the 1. July 2019 and this address must still be valid as of 1. July 2020.
Where can I get a ticket?
You can find Semestertickets in the ServiceCenters at the student union, as well as at VRN outlets.
You can buy the ticket online on the RNV or Deutschen Bahn sites, or using the VRN-Ticket-App.
Important: The VRN-Semesterticket can be shown on a Smartphone through the VRN-Ticket-App of the Deutsche Bahn. The Semesterticket is only valid in conjunction with your student ID, so please always take your ID with you! The ticket is not transferable.
Tip: students with a valid Semesterticket from the VRN or KVV can obtain a conjuction Semesterticket. If you are traveling outside of the VRN zone, you only need to buy a ticket once you have crossed the zone boundary.
More info on Semesterticket and conjunction ticket
Rhein-Neckar transport federation
Karlsruhe transport federation
The Heidelberg student union and Heilbronn university have signed a contract with the Heilbronn transport federation (HNV), Hohenlohekreis local transport (NVH) and the city of Künzelsau to offer a Semesterticket to students at Heilbronn university and Reinhold-Würth-Hochschule. All students pay a solidarity fee of €15 each semester, which is used as basic funding for the Semesterticket and for further services provided by the transport federations.
All students at Heilbronn university and Reinhold-Würth-Hochschule can travel for free on Heilbronn city transport (Zone A) with their student ID, daily, from 19:00, on the weekend and on official bank holidays throughout the day. In Künzelsau, these rules apply to the NVH tariff zones 7 and 10, the Citybus and the Mountain Railway.
Scope
All public transport (bus, train, tram and Künzelsau Mountain Railway) in the Hohenlohe district, as well as the Heilbronn district including the city of Heilbronn.
Validity period
Valid for one semester: summer semester from 1 March to 31 August, winter semester from 1 September to the end of February of the following year.
Price
€159 for one semester
Where can I get a ticket?
You can get your Semesterticket in Heilbronn at the HNV, in Künzelsau at the NVH client centre and at the Heilbronn university student union upon presentation of your student ID or enrolment certificate.
Important: the Semesterticket is only valid in conjuction with your student ID - so please always remember to take your ID with you!
Tip: students with a valid Semesterticket from the VRN or KVV can obtain a conjuction Semesterticket, the Semester-Ticket-Plus.
More info about the semester ticket and Semester-Ticket-Plus:
Heilbronn transport federation
There's free usage of all buses and trains for all students!
You can travel for free from 19:00, on weekends, or throughout the day on bank holidays!
All students of the University of Heidelberg and the University of Education in Heidelberg may, with their student ID, travel on buses and trains free of charge, daily, from 19:00, during the whole weekend and bank holidays. This offer is however only valid within zones 125, 105, 135 and 145 (Heidelberg, Eppelheim, Dossenheim/Schriesheim and Leimen/Sandhausen/Nußloch).
More info about the Semesterticket and conjunction Semesterticket: Rhein-Neckar transport federation
You can travel for free from 19:00, on weekends, or throughout the day on bank holidays
All students at Heilbronn university and Reinhold-Würth-Hochschule are entitled to travel for free on Heilbronn city transport (Zone A) with their student ID, daily, from 19:00, on the weekend and on official bank holidays throughout the day. In Künzelsau, these rules apply to the NVH tariff zones 7 and 10, the Citybus and the Mountain Railway.
More info about the Semesterticket and Semester-Ticket-Plus: Heilbronn transport federation
Thanks to sponsors and the use of our own resources, the Heidelberg student union can, in some cases, grant a lunch allowance to students in their main course of studies who find themselves in particular financial difficulties.
The allowance is usually granted once a semester, on application.
The Heidelberg student union must have received applications at the latest 14 days after the beginning of term. Depending on the requirements of the student, between €40 and €80 of credit can be loaded onto the CampusCard. If the application is made during Social Counselling, you might be granted a higher free meal bonus.
Applications can be downloaded here.
Send in the application form either by post to the Heidelberg student union or hand it in personally:
Postal address
Heidelberg student union
Student Finance Department
Marstallhof 1
69117 Heidelberg
In Heidelberg:
In Heilbronn:
Elisabeth Cope
Gustav-Berger-Haus halls of residence
Max-Planck-Straße 31
Tu 10:00 - 13:00, We 14:00 - 17:00
Tel.: 07131 250315
Email: elisabeth.cope[at]stw.uni-heidelberg[dot]de.
Students can also receive housing allowance in certain circumstances. As many different criteria are taken into account to determine whether a student is entitled to housing allowance, students should seek detailed information from the social advice center at the student union.
Housing allowance office
Fischmarkt 2 (1st floor)
69117 Heidelberg
Tel.: 06221 58-38710 bis 58-38714 and 58-38716 until 58-38720
Opening times: Tu, Thu, Fr 8:00 - 12:00 and by appointment
Housing allowance office of the Rhein-Neckar administrative district office
Kurfürstenanlage 38 - 40
69115 Heidelberg
Tel.: 06221 5221545
Office hours: only by appointment
Housing allowance office of Heilbronn administrative district office
Lerchenstraße 40
74072 Heilbronn
Tel.: 07131 994245
Opening times: Mo 8:00 - 12:00, We 13:30 - 18:00
Citizens Advice Bureau
Stuttgarter Straße 7
74653 Künzelsau
Tel.: 07940 1290
Opening times: Mo - fr 8:30 - 18:30, Sa 9:00 - 13:00
Housing allowance office Schwäbisch Hall
Gymnasiumstraße 2
74523 Schwäbisch Hall
Tel.: 0791 751287
Opening times: Mo - Fr 8:00 - 12:00, Tu 14:00 - 16:00, Thu 14:00 - 17:00, as well as by appointment
Social welfare office Mosbach
Renzstraße 10
74821 Mosbach
Tel.: 06261 840
Citizens Registration Office Bad Mergentheim
Bahnhofplatz 1
97980 Bad Mergentheim
Tel.: 07931 575007
The little green plastic card called an 'ISIC' (International Student Identity Card) is an almost indispensible travelling companion for students abroad, and can also be used as a service card here in Germany.
You can benefit from 41,000 concessions and services worldwide with an ISIC:
The ISIC is recognised in more than 100 countries. It costs €15 and is valid for 1 year from the date of issue.
In Heidelberg
STA Travel, Hauptstraße 139
69117 Heidelberg
Tel.: 06221 357 91 20
Email: heidelberg[at]statravel[dot]de
or online.
To apply for a card, you will need an enrolment certificate, ID and a passport photo.
rds Reisedienst Deutscher Studentenschaften
Grindelallee 114, 20146 Hamburg
Tel.: 040 4146490
Fax: 040 41464944
Email: info[at]ISIC[dot]de, ISIC
The workshop is in Im Neuenheimer Feld 704
(on Klausenpfad).
Tu and Thu 15:00 - 20:00
Thu 14:00 - 20:00
You can find detailed information on: http://urrmel.uni-hd.de
Students can use the CarSharing service on the following conditions:
Conditions for students with a Semesterticket (because of a cooperation with the URN/VRN):
Conditions for students without a Semesterticket:
Vehicles have been parked over a wide area by the carshing company stadtmobil. These locations include Leimen-St. Ilgen, Heidelberg old town (Altstad), im Neuenheimer Feld, Sickinger Straße, and many more.
You can find a layout plan here.
