The Story of a Haryana Student Who Reached Germany With Zero Tuition Fees
Ankur Yadav from Rohtak studied MSc Computer Science at TU Berlin — a world-ranked university — with zero tuition fees. Here is the complete pathway.
Ankur from Rohtak — Germany's public universities made the math work
When Ankur Yadav tells people he is studying at TU Berlin — a university ranked among Europe's top technical institutions — for essentially zero tuition fees, most people assume he is joking, misunderstood something, or got a scholarship. He got none of those things. He simply applied to a German public university, which charges a semester administrative fee of around €350.
Ankur is from Rohtak, Haryana. His father is a government clerk, his mother a homemaker. The family had a clear budget constraint for education abroad: no more than ₹25–30 lakh total, over the full course duration. Germany was the only country that made the math work.
The German University Application Process
Germany's public universities — TU Berlin, RWTH Aachen, TU Munich, Heidelberg, and dozens of others — charge domestic and international students alike only a nominal semester fee. There is no differential pricing. But the admission process is genuinely competitive and requires preparation most Indian applicants underestimate.
For Ankur, the critical step was the APS Certificate — a document verification process mandatory for Indian applicants. The APS (Academic Evaluation Centre) verifies the authenticity of your Indian degrees and transcripts. It involves submitting original documents and attending an interview in Delhi. Ankur found the process straightforward but time-consuming: it took seven weeks from submission to certificate.
The Blocked Account — What It Is and How to Open One
The German student visa requires a "blocked account" (Sperrkonto) showing €11,208 (approximate annual figure, revised each year) to prove you can support yourself during your first year. This money is deposited into a German bank account and released monthly at a fixed rate. The account is opened before you arrive — services like Coracle or Deutsche Bank Bildungskredit are commonly used by Indian students.
The blocked account scared me at first because I thought it was a fee. It's not — you get every rupee back, released monthly. It's basically your own money held in Germany until you arrive.
— Ankur Yadav, Rohtak
- University admission: TU Berlin, MSc Computer Science
- Tuition fees: €0 (public university — semester fee only ≈ €350/semester)
- Visa type: National Visa (D) for studies
- Blocked account amount: €11,208 deposited
- APS Certificate: obtained in 7 weeks
- Total cost for 2-year MSc (estimated): ₹22–26 lakh including living expenses
Life in Berlin — Surprisingly Affordable
Berlin is the most affordable major capital in Western Europe for students. Ankur pays €450/month for a room in a shared apartment (WG — Wohngemeinschaft) near TU's main campus. The semester ticket he buys with his student ID gives him unlimited public transport across Berlin and Brandenburg for €29/semester. He works part-time at a supermarket — up to 120 full days per year is allowed on a student visa.
His monthly expenses including rent, food, transport, and sim card are approximately €900–950. That is well within the released amount from his blocked account. He hasn't touched money from India since his first month.