Winter semester 2024/25

The semester fee for the winter semester 2024/25 is a total of €256.40 and is made up as follows:

Social contribution €80.00

Germany semester ticket €176.40

Summer semester 2025

The semester fee for the summer semester 2025 is a total of €256.40 and is made up as follows:

Social contribution €80.00

Germany semester ticket €176.40

Before starting your studies at UW/H...

Before starting your studies at the UW/H, the membership declaration Application of Membership including payment information must be filled out. You can choose whether the semester contributions should be paid to the Hochschulwerk by bank transfer or by direct debit. The amount of the contribution will be announced at least one month before the start of the semester.

... the following rules apply

    Payment by bank transfer should always be made to the specified bank account by the following dates at the latest:

•         for the summer semester by 30.04.
•         for the winter semester by 31.10.

    If you have agreed to a direct debit, this will always take place at the following times:

•         for the summer semester: beginning to middle of May
•         for the winter semester: beginning to middle of November

    You will receive an e-mail approx. 10-14 days before the direct debit is due to take place, informing you of the upcoming direct debit.

We will be happy to issue you with a certificate for your HSW semester fees for your tax return.

However, please note the following:

• The certificate will be issued upon your request. All certificates are created manually and can therefore not be produced and sent without being requested.
• The document is created as a PDF and sent by e-mail.
• Since the tax return is always submitted retroactively for the previous year, contributions for the current year can only be claimed in the following year. For this reason, we always issue the corresponding certificates for a complete year only at the beginning of the following year.
• We only issue certificates for complete years, as the preparation of certificates for individual semesters represents an enormous amount of additional administrative work.
• If you need a certificate for the HSW semester fees for the previous year, please send us an email.

Attention! We can only certify fees that are charged by the Hochschulwerk. You can obtain a certificate of your tuition fees from the student union (Studierendengesellschaft).

Receipt & Activation

Here is the link to the RIDE Campus web application: https://abo.ride-ticketing.de/app/login?partnerId=b220f8b48b53b8b77266e015153d5b1b 

The Login to Ride Campus application works with your UWE login data. After registration, the Germany Semester Ticket button will be displayed. By clicking on it, it opens as a QR code. For offline use, you can save the QR code in your Google or IOS wallet.

The Germany Semester Ticket is only available digitally. A printout or screenshot of the QR code is not valid proof of ticket!

General remark! Please always remember to carry a valid identification document with you.

Deactivation

If you exmatriculate, the ticket loses its validity from the day you exmatriculate and may no longer be used. The current, full month still needs to be paid; all subsequent full months up to the end of the semester can be refunded.

• The Germany Semester Ticket is valid throughout Germany, second class, on local and regional transport.

• Taking bicycles and people with you is no longer included in the Germany Semester Ticket. Students can book their bikes with an additional ticket from the transport company.

• You can use all buses, subways, trams, S-Bahn and local trains of Deutsche Bahn AG at no additional cost - unfortunately not 1st class and ICE/IC.

• The ticket is valid from April 1st. until September 30th for a summer semester and from October 1st. until March 31st for a winter semester.

• Guests and second students do not receive the Germany Semester Ticket.

Exemption from the semester ticket obligation is possible under the following conditions:

Stay abroad

An exemption due to a stay abroad can only be granted if the stay lasts longer than 3 months and the application for exemption is submitted no later than 4 weeks after the start of the semester.

Vacation semester

The ticket obligation expires during a semester of vacation. The ticket will be blocked and no payment has to be made. If you would like to continue to purchase the ticket, we definitely need a message from you to hochschulwerk@spam protectuni-wh.de. If you receive a backdated approval for a semester of leave from the University, the ticket remains active and cannotbe refunded, as the ticket cannot be blocked retroactively.

Severe disabilities

Severely disabled people who are entitled to free transport or who cannot use local public transport due to their disability (and who provide proof of this with a current token).

Doctoral candidates

Doctoral candidates who are not primarily pursuing their doctorate, but are primarily working professionally. The following distribution applies as a guideline: 60% professional activity – 40% doctorate. An application for a ticket exemption with appropriate evidence (certificate from the employer, employment contract, etc.) must be submitted to the Hochschulwerk promptly. Otherwise the ticket must be purchased (solidarity principle).

The current exemptions for doctoral candidates from the WS23/24 and before remain in place, as we assume that the focus here is not primarily on the doctorate, but rather on professional activity, since they do not live locally.

If the above-mentioned requirements no longer exist or change in the future, we ask you to let us know immediately, as the ticket obligation will then apply again.

About the procedure

To submit your application, please use the form Application of exemption from the semester ticket obligation.

The application must be approved with a signature and stamp by the head of your faculty at the University of Witten/Herdecke or the doctoral supervisor.

Doctoral candidates must submit proof of their employer to the Hochschulwerk.

The above-mentioned approval must be obtained by you, as the applicant. Only completed and confirmed applications can be processed. An informal application is not possible. The application and the corresponding evidence can be submitted by email to hochschulwerk@spam protectuni-wh.de. Prompt processing is important here as we cannot refund the ticket fees retroactively. Each started month is invoiced by the BOGESTRA transport company and must therefore be paid in full. Conversely, only full months are taken into account for the semester ticket exemption.

The exemption from the semester ticket obligation does not include the social contribution. This is due every semester, except during a vacation semester.

Please do not submit an application if none of the above requirements apply to you, as this will only lead to unnecessary administrative work. The reasons mentioned above are contractually stipulated. Anything beyond this will be rejected by the transport company.

The social contribution is a flat-rate compulsory contribution that all students (first-time students, second-time students and doctoral students) at a German university have to pay to the respective student union before each semester.

Students at Witten/Herdecke University pay this contribution to Hochschulwerk Witten/Herdecke e.V..

The social contribution is used for services that serve the association's purpose (Vereinszweck) and thus benefit the student body. These include, among other things, the services of the social committee, the management of the catering facilities, the support of cultural projects, the provision of university merchandise and the organisation of university sports.

If the social contribution has already been paid to the HSW and you were exmatriculated retroactively to the end of the previous semester, the social contribution can be refunded. In this case, please inform us by sending us a short email.

This only applies to completed studies with an exmatriculation date of 30.09. or 31.03. where the payment of the social contribution for the following semester has already taken place. In the case of exmatriculation during the semester, the social contribution is not refundable.

During a semester of leave, the social contribution is not due.

BAföG applications for students at the University of Witten/Herdecke are processed by the Akademische Förderungswerk at the Ruhr University Bochum. Here you can also get advice and information on financing your living costs.

You can also submit your BAföG application online.

Students in financial need can also turn to the Social Welfare Committee of the Hochschulwerk Witten/ Herdecke e.V. for an interest-free loan.

The Akademisches Förderungswerk at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum is responsible for advising students at the UW/H on financing options such as BAföG, scholarships and loans during their studies.

Other ways of obtaining loans apart from the Social Committee are, for example: Daka, KfW, Bundesverwaltungsamt (Federal Office of Administration).

If you are looking for scholarships, you can find an overview of all scholarships for gifted students on the page StipendiumPlus.

The Witten University Outpatient Clinic (Uniambulanz Witten) offers general practitioner care and evidence-based naturopathy.

If you have mental health problems, the psychotherapeutic outpatient clinic at Witten/Herdecke University (Centre for Mental Health and Psychotherapy) can help you.

In addition, the A-Coaching Team offers systemic counselling for crises and problems.

The Social Welfare Committee can best be reached by mail.

IBAN: DE 44 4525 0035 0000 7025 14

You can find all contact details for the Hochschulwerk here.

IBAN: DE70 4525 0035 0000 0966 69