Hesse funds its public universities without charging tuition fees, for EU and non-EU students alike — the same as almost everywhere in Germany outside Baden-Württemberg. That applies to Bachelor's and consecutive Master's programmes at h_da.

What every student pays is the semester contribution, and it is not a fee for teaching. A large part of the 401 EUR funds the nationwide Deutschlandticket that the student body negotiated for all h_da students, covering public transport across the whole country. The amount is set each semester, so it changes.

No tuition doesn't mean no proof of funds: for the student visa you still need to show about 11,904 EUR for the year, usually in a blocked account, and that money has to be transferred months before the semester starts.

h_da publishes one set of deadlines split by admission type and by whether the applicant holds a German-recognised entrance qualification, not by EU/non-EU status. Applicants with a foreign certificate — which covers most non-EU applicants — must also register with uni-assist. A small number of Master's programmes (e.g. Architecture, Interior Architecture, Animation and Game) run on their own separate dates.

Applicants without a German-recognised entrance qualification must apply through uni-assist e.V. rather than directly through h_da's own portal; applicants with a German-recognised qualification apply directly through h_da's own portal (my.h-da / eCampus) instead.

h_da runs about 10 degree programmes fully in English, out of more than 70 in total, mostly concentrated in engineering, computer science and business, and mostly at Master's level. You can study the English-taught programmes without German, though everyday German still helps with housing, part-time work and the authorities.

h_da's certificate-of-proficiency page lists several accepted tests at different levels rather than one flat cut-off, and the exact score is set per programme. Certificates are generally expected to be recent; check the requirement for your specific programme before booking a test.

Work backwards from the lecture start rather than the semester start: the winter semester formally begins on 1 October, but lectures start on 12 October 2026, and you'll want to be in Darmstadt a few weeks earlier for city registration, a bank account and a room.

Hesse's largest university of applied sciences, with roots going back to 1876 as a shared technical school with TU Darmstadt and independent since 1971. Its strengths are engineering, computer science, media and design, business and social work, and it is part of the European University of Technology (EUt+) alliance, giving students mobility across eight partner institutions in Europe.

It sits close to regional research and industry, including Fraunhofer institutes and the European Space Operations Centre (ESA/ESOC) in Darmstadt, which is why internships and working student jobs are easy to find here. Darmstadt itself is in the Rhine-Main metropolitan region, about 30 minutes from Frankfurt by train.