Last updated 5. March 2025 | Sprecherinnen

Dear fellow students,

We have received many inquiries about the semester fee. In the following, we will try to clarify the situation.
The semester fee of €367.35 is broken down as follows:
€75 – University administration fee: Not refundable, as this is stipulated in § 11 NHG. We have been criticizing this contribution for years, but it requires a change in the law
106.00 € – Student Union fee: According to § 70 NHG, students are obliged to pay a contribution to the Student Union, the amount of the contribution is determined by the statutes of the Student Union.[https://www.stw-on.de/fileadmin/media/Allgemein/STWON_Beitragssatzung.pdf] Here too, the state should increase funding, thereby relieving the burden on students and enabling the student union [sic] to bring its infrastructure and services up to the necessary standard. To this end, we have joined the SOS Studiwerk alliance and supported the petition[https://weact.campact.de/petitions/mehr-finanzhilfe-vom-land-fur-studiwerke-studierende-entlasten]. In this petition, we call on the state to increase support for the Studiwerke and thus relieve the burden on students.

19.00 € – Contribution to the student body: Our student councils, student group representatives, DSi, university sports, AStA are still there for you. Services such as legal advice, social and financial advice are needed more than ever.
5.50 € – Various solidarity contributions [KonRad, EliStu, university sports], which are determined by ballots, among other things. The university sports department is there for you and takes care of alternative outdoor activities, but the gym is also open again. KonRad and EliStu will reopen in the next few weeks.
161.85 € – semester ticket: Unfortunately, we have to deny all suggestions or requests that the semester ticket should be completely, or at least partially, removed from the semester fee, or that it should be a purely optional ticket.
This is due to the fact that the contracts with the various providers do not provide for a refund or immediate reduction in contributions under the given circumstances: Theoretically, the offer could be used to almost the full extent – even if this would not be a sensible idea for good reasons. we cannot take the money for a refund from our budget either, because that would be up to 1.5 million euros and the student body could not afford that.

Furthermore, our current state of knowledge is that the winter semester will take place with maximum possible attendance. Depending on the size of the course and the pandemic situation, this will include hybrid [Präsenz mit zugeschalteten Kommiliton*innen] course formats and the provision of seminar rooms for self-study as well as a library that is as open as possible. Various exams and other examinations will also take place entirely in person during the current summer semester. For this reason, it can be assumed that many students will again be staying in Lüneburg or at least commuting to Lüneburg. This is also in line with the many student requests for the opportunity to study on campus and use the library.

Despite everything, we understand that the ticket is a financial burden and also that many students living in Hamburg are annoyed by the price in connection with the area of validity [im HVV quasi nicht nutzbar]. However, this ticket was chosen in a ballot and the HVV semester ticket would cost just under 180 euros extra. Negotiations to reduce this price or to offer a potentially cheaper semester ticket for the greater area have failed several times in recent years.

Like all student bodies in Lower Saxony, we continue to campaign in particular for an improvement in the financial study situation of all students, e.g. by campaigning for a suspension of long-term tuition fees, extension of BAföG entitlements, increase in BAföG etc. [siehe auch “Nicht-Semester”].
At this point we would also like to refer once again to our hardship regulations, which can be found here: https://www.asta-lueneburg.de/downloads/satzungen-und-ordnungen/haertefallordnung/ In certain cases, the semester ticket will be refunded upon application.
We are of course always available to answer any further questions.
Best regards and good health