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Working while you study in Germany

Student jobs in Germany come in four kinds, each with its own rules. This is how hours, permits, insurance and tax work while you study.

This is general information, not legal advice. The rules depend on your citizenship, your permit and your contract, and local offices sometimes count things differently. Check your own case with the offices listed at the end.

The four kinds of student job

Working student — the Werkstudent

A Werkstudent (working student) job is a regular part-time job, often in your field, held by someone enrolled at a university. The key fact is the 20-hour rule: during term you work no more than 20 hours a week, so that your studies stay your main activity.[1]

Keep to that and you keep student status in social insurance. You still pay into the pension system, but you pay no unemployment insurance, and you stay insured for health as a student rather than as an employee.[2][3]

  • In semester breaks you can work more than 20 hours a week without losing that status.[1]
  • During term, going above 20 hours is only allowed in narrow cases — work in the evenings, at night or at weekends — and for at most 26 weeks in a year.[1][2]

Browse working-student jobs.

Minijob

A Minijob is a small job with an earnings cap. In 2026 you may earn no more than €603 a month on average, which is €7,236 a year. You normally pay only pension contributions, and you can ask to be exempted from those. You do not need to be a student to have one.[4]

The minimum wage applies. At €13.90 an hour, the 2026 rate, €603 is about 43 hours of work a month.[4][5] Browse mini-jobs.

Internship — the Praktikum

A Praktikum (internship) is a period of practical training. Germany draws a sharp line between two kinds:

  • A Pflichtpraktikum (mandatory internship) is required by your study or exam regulations. It does not have to pay the minimum wage.[5]
  • A voluntary internship does not have to pay the minimum wage if it lasts no more than three months and either helps you choose a career or accompanies your studies. A voluntary internship longer than three months must pay at least the minimum wage.[5]

Many internships pay anyway. Check the advert. Browse internships.

Thesis at a company

Some companies let you write your bachelor's or master's thesis with them. Some pay it as a working-student job, some as an internship, some not at all. The rules for that contract type apply, so ask which one it is. Browse thesis positions.

If you are not an EU citizen

A student residence permit lets you work up to a limit set by residence law. It applies on top of the social-insurance rules above.[6]

  • 140 full days or 280 half days a year. A half day means up to four hours of work. Anything longer counts as a full day. The count runs per calendar year, and only days you actually work count — not holidays or sick days.[7][8]
  • How days are counted can vary. The Studierendenwerk, the national body of student services, explains that a regular job of up to 20 hours a week during term is counted as two and a half days a week.[7] Ask your office how it counts.
  • Jobs at your university do not count. Work as an academic or student assistant at the university or the Studierendenwerk, or a job very closely connected to your studies, is not counted against the limit.[7] You should still tell the Ausländerbehörde — the local immigration office — about it.[9]
  • Mandatory internships do not count. Voluntary internships do, even unpaid ones.[8]
  • Self-employment and freelancing need permission from the Ausländerbehörde first.[7][9] Do not start until you have it.

Working beyond your limit needs separate permission, which is not automatic.[8][9] If you are unsure whether a job fits, ask the Ausländerbehörde before you sign, and keep your own record of the days you work. For permits more generally, see visas and work permits.

If you are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen

You have no work-permit limits. The social-insurance rules still apply to you exactly as they do to German students, so the 20-hour rule matters for you too.[9][6]

Health insurance

You need health insurance to enrol, and you keep it while you work.[10] As long as you stay within the working-student rules, you remain insured as a student and pay the student rate, and your employer pays no health share.[2]

If you regularly work more than 20 hours a week during term, that changes: you are then insured through the job as an employee, and health, care and unemployment insurance contributions are taken from your pay.[10] Tell your health insurer if your hours change.[2]

Tax

As a working student you pay income tax like anyone else, but most students earn so little over a year that they stay under the tax-free basic allowance, the Grundfreibetrag.[2][11] Even so, wage tax may be taken from your pay each month.

If that happens, you can usually get it back by filing a tax return after the year ends, online through ELSTER, the tax authorities' free official portal.[2][12]

After you graduate

Non-EU graduates of a German university can get a residence permit for up to 18 months to look for a job. During those 18 months you may take any kind of job. You need proof that you finished your degree, health insurance, and enough money to support yourself. The permit cannot be extended.[13] Talk to the Ausländerbehörde well before your student permit ends.

Where to check

This guide is about Germany. Austria and Switzerland work differently — sometimes very differently. See working in Austria and working in Switzerland.

Figures on this page were checked on 23 September 2026 against the sources below. The Minijob limit and the minimum wage change most years — the minimum wage is due to rise to €14.60 an hour on 1 January 2027.

Sources

  1. Deutsche Rentenversicherung: Werkstudentenprivileg — the 20-hour line, freedom from health, care and unemployment insurance, work only in semester breaks, and evening, night or weekend work above 20 hours for at most 26 weeks (German). Checked 23 Sep 2026. ↑↑↑

  2. Deutsches Studierendenwerk: Werkstudierende — no unemployment insurance, pension contributions, student health rate with no employer health share, the 26-week exception, telling the health insurer, and getting wage tax back through a tax return if pay stays under the Grundfreibetrag (German). Checked 23 Sep 2026. ↑↑↑↑↑↑

  3. Deutsche Rentenversicherung: Beschäftigung von Studierenden — working students are compulsorily insured in the pension scheme (German). Checked 23 Sep 2026. ↑

  4. Minijob-Zentrale: Minijob mit Verdienstgrenze — on average no more than €603 a month (€7,236 a year) in 2026, usually only pension contributions, the choice to opt out, students among those who can hold one, and about 43 hours at €13.90 (German). Checked 23 Sep 2026. ↑↑

  5. Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS): Informationen zum Mindestlohn — €13.90 an hour since 1 January 2026, €14.60 from 1 January 2027, and which internships are exempt (German). Checked 23 Sep 2026. ↑↑↑

  6. Make it in Germany: Study and work — students from third countries and from the EU/EEA and Switzerland may work up to 20 hours a week during term, just like German students. Checked 23 Sep 2026. ↑↑

  7. Deutsches Studierendenwerk: Working as an international student (leaflet, PDF) — 140 full or 280 half days per calendar year, half days of up to four hours, only days worked count, 20 hours a week counted as two and a half days, university and closely connected jobs outside the limit, and self-employment only with permission. Checked 23 Sep 2026. ↑↑↑↑

  8. City of Munich: Studium, Arbeiten und Aufenthaltsrecht — the calendar-year count, holidays and sick days not counted, mandatory internships not counted, voluntary ones counted paid or unpaid, and permission needed to work more (German). Checked 23 Sep 2026. ↑↑↑

  9. DAAD, the German Academic Exchange Service: Side jobs — student assistants must still inform the foreigners' office, self-employment only with permission, extra work only in special cases, and unrestricted access for EU, EEA and Swiss students. Checked 23 Sep 2026. ↑↑↑↑

  10. Deutsches Studierendenwerk: Health and long-term care insurance — proof of insurance needed to enrol, and students working more than 20 hours a week are insured as normal employees. Checked 23 Sep 2026. ↑↑

  11. Federal Ministry of Finance: Die wichtigsten steuerlichen Änderungen 2026 — the Grundfreibetrag keeps the subsistence minimum tax-free; €12,348 in 2026 (German). Checked 23 Sep 2026. ↑

  12. ELSTER, the tax administration's portal: Ihr Online-Finanzamt — online tax returns, free of charge (German). Checked 23 Sep 2026. ↑

  13. Make it in Germany: Seeking employment after graduation — up to 18 months, any type of job, proof of degree, health insurance and livelihood, not renewable. Checked 23 Sep 2026. ↑

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