Important information about financing your study abroad is provided in the section “Preparing for Your Study Abroad ”under Tuition and Finances. Here are some additional financing tips and links with a particular emphasis on finding a job, and we would like to warn you against the wide-spread "debt traps".

Scholarships

You can apply for scholarships even after you have started studying. In fact, many scholarships are available only to students in their “Hauptstudium”, who have completed the general requirements and have advanced to their main course of study. At the International Office you can ask about scholarships geared specifically towards international students. You will find further details in the section "Financing Your Studies" under Additional Financial Options. Other scholarship listings on the internet are the DAAD scholarship database (Stipendien Datenbank) for example. The Bundesverband Deutscher Stiftungen also maintains such a list.

KfW-Studienkredit

Banks are increasingly offering special loans to students to help cover their tuition costs. The Studentenwe rk Osnabrück functions as a distribution partner of the so-called KfW-Studienkredit (KfW Study Loan), which is also available to international students from EU states. Please see the section »Financing Your Studies« under KfW-Studienkredit.

Niedersachsen-Studienbeitrags-Darlehen

This loan covers the 500 Euros tuition costs per semester that have been instituted in Lower Saxony since the winter semester 2006/2007.

In some cases, the Niedersachsen-Studienbeitrags-Darlehen is also available to international students. The application process takes place exclusively through the KfW online-Kreditportal KfW, and here is more information about the NBank and the KfW.
 
The NBank (Investitions- und Förderbank Niedersachsen) reviews the requirements and approves the loans; the KfW is the creditor. The loan is approved without regard to income and property, it is not necessary to provide securities.

More information here

Working

Please consult the following document published by the DAAD, to find out if and how much you are allowed to work while you are an international student in Germany: DAAD Information on the Statutory Frameworks applicable to the Pursuit of Gainful Employment by Foreign Students, Academics and Researchers [PDF]. For more information, see the Deutsches Studentenwerk website under Working during Studies.

Where to Search for a Job

A good address to start looking for short-term as well as long-term part time jobs is the Agentur für Arbeit. It is also worth checking the classifieds in the local daily press which are also published on the website "job-welt.de" maintained by the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung. Also check the internet for the numerous online job-portals.

Waitressing or bartending are popular student jobs that you could look for, and you could also advertise your services as a tutor on the pin-boards in the university, for example. Many firms hire students to fill temporary jobs during the semester breaks. Contact the firms early on for such a job.

Temp agencies (temporary employment agencies) are another option for finding a job. These agencies make their profit by “lending” employees to other firms. For a side job it can make sense to apply at a temporary employment agency. A personnel leasing agency works on a similar basis. You will find temporary employment agencies in the Yellow Pages (Gelbe Seiten).

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