Living in Paderborn
Paderborn offers a friendly and safe environment to study and live.
Paderborn is surrounded by a charming countryside and is a lively cultural center with theatres and cinemas, concerts from classical to jazz, a vibrant arts scene, clubs and entertainment, museums - including the word’s largest computer museum - art galleries, and a wide variety of sports and recreational activities, from water sports, horse riding and indoor carts to parachuting and paragliding. The culinary offerings range from traditional cooking to cozy student pubs, bars, and bistros.
Paderborn's favourable geographical location in the heart of Germany is an ideal starting point for discovering the country and its people. Well-known and popular destinations such as Cologne, Berlin and Munich can be reached easily. Trips to nearby cities such as Münster, Detmold, Osnabrück, Soest and Hameln are also highly recommended.
Things to know
As a student, you have the opportunity to take part in university sports. This gives you the opportunity to get fit and socialise with other students.
Paderborn University has a large fitness centre, a running track, a golf course and several tennis courts. The university sports programme includes many different courses, e.g. dance, fitness, yoga, Zumba, tennis, golf, American football etc.
Registration is required for all courses before the start of the semester. Some courses are particularly popular with students, so you should enrol as early as possible.
You can also take advantage of the numerous offers outside the university, for example the Paderborn swimming pools, the Ahorn-Sportpark or visit one of the games of the Paderborn professional football club SC Paderborn 07 or the Untouchables Paderborner Basketball Club e. V.
First the good news: There are no tuition fees at Paderborn University!
However, like all other UPB students, exchange students must pay a semester fee (approx. 350 EUR per semester). This fee includes the semester ticket, which allows you to use local public transport in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The monthly costs for your stay will amount to at least EUR 900 - 1,000 - but to be on the safe side, you should allow a little more, e.g. for excursions etc.
When planning your budget, you should also take into account expenses for purchases (crockery, cutlery, bed linen, etc.) and a certain amount of cash for the first few days in Paderborn.
Timeline for your payments:
Before your arrival in Paderborn, you should transfer your first rent and the deposit for your room.
The semester fee must be paid before the start of the semester.
The monthly rent for your room is due at the beginning of each month.
For non-EU students, you will also have to pay the monthly costs for health insurance.
The following overview gives you an estimate of the other average monthly expenses (in addition to the semester fee, deposit and health insurance) you will have as a student in Paderborn:
