Heidelberg University

Heidelberg University was founded in 1386 and is the oldest university in Germany. It is a comprehensive research university with faculties across medicine, the natural sciences, law, economics, behavioural sciences and the humanities.

Its medical faculty and the surrounding cluster of life sciences research institutes give it a particularly strong international profile in biomedicine, molecular biology and clinical research, alongside long-established humanities departments.

Teaching at bachelor's level is predominantly in German, with English-taught master's programmes available in a number of fields, particularly in the sciences.

Admission follows the German framework and is administered faculty by faculty.

• Recognition of your secondary qualification, or completion of a Studienkolleg preparatory year where required.
• German language certification for German-taught programmes; IELTS or TOEFL for English-taught ones.
• A relevant bachelor's degree with matching coursework for master's entry.
• An APS certificate where it applies to your country of qualification.
• Restricted-admission and selection procedures for medicine and other capped subjects, with their own timetable and criteria.

A public university in Baden-Württemberg, a state that has reintroduced a tuition fee for some non-EU students — which makes this a genuine exception to the German rule.

• Baden-Württemberg charges a tuition fee to non-EU/EEA students for a first degree, unlike most German states. This is the important detail here.
• A second-degree fee also applies in some circumstances.
• A semester contribution in addition, covering student services and a transport ticket.
• Fees remain low by international comparison, well below UK, Irish or US levels — but they are not zero, which is what applicants assume.
• Blocked account proof of funds for the visa.
• Mandatory health insurance.

Do not assume the "no tuition in Germany" rule applies here — Baden-Württemberg is one of the states where it does not. Work from Heidelberg's fees page for your fee status and programme for your specific programme and year of entry — it is the only figure that will be correct for you, and it is republished every year. We will confirm the current cost and what it includes before you commit to an application.

Heidelberg is a public university charging a semester contribution rather than tuition on most first degrees. Its funding is strongest in research, with doctoral candidates commonly supported through research contracts or through externally funded graduate schools.

• National exchange programmes — principally postgraduate.
• Deutschlandstipendium — administered by the university.
• Graduate school funding — attached to structured doctoral programmes.
• Foundation scholarships — academic record together with engagement.

With no tuition fee to cover on most first degrees, funding here is aimed at living costs. Plan the visa's proof-of-funds requirement alongside any award rather than after it.

Germany's oldest university, in a small, picturesque town on the Neckar, with a historic centre and a modern science campus.

• Two main areas — the historic Old Town with the humanities and law, and the Neuenheimer Feld campus with the sciences and medicine.
• A small town with a very large student share, which makes it sociable and walkable.
• A long academic tradition and a strong research culture, particularly in the life sciences.
• Student associations and university sport, plus the usual German study-group culture.
• Externally administered student housing, in demand because the town is small.
• Frankfurt airport under an hour away, which is convenient for international students.

Heidelberg is beautiful and small, and both matter. It is an easy place to live and study, and it is not a big city — students wanting metropolitan life travel to Frankfurt or Mannheim for it.