Housing

Exchange students are accommodated in single apartments or shared flats (for two, three or four students) of the Studierendenwerk Dortmund. In all dormitories students have their own bedroom.

Single Apartments

You have your own bathroom in your apartment. Either you also have your own kitchen in your apartment, or you share a common kitchen in the hallway.

Shared Flats

You share the kitchen and the bathroom with your roommates. All shared flats are same-sex flats.

Barrier-free Rooms

The Studierendenwerk Dortmund offers barrier-free accommodation for people with disabilities. Please inform your contact at the International Office (see below) about your special needs.

Internet

There is unlimited Internet access in all dormitories through LAN.

Furniture

The Studierendenwerk Dortmund provides exchange students with a bed, desk and desk chair, a wardrobe closet, kitchen utensils, pillow and blanket (bed linen must be brought by one self, the measurements are for the pillow approx. 80 x 80 cm, for the blanket and sheet approx. 2 x 1,35 m).

The Studierendenwerk Dortmund is a legally independent institution that is not affiliated with TU Dortmund University. Since the waiting list for a dorm room is very long, and exchange students would therefore have no chance of getting a place in the residence halls in the regular application process, TU Dortmund University has set up a cooperation agreement with the Studierendenwerk Dortmund. This service has been highly appreciated by exchange students for decades.

Students therefore sign a rental agreement with the Studierendenwerk Dortmund and not with TU Dortmund University. The rental contract will be sent by the Studierendenwerk Dortmund to the exchange students via e-mail before they arrive in Dortmund. The rental contract has to be signed and sent back to the Studierendenwerk Dortmund. You can cancel your reservation until the rental contract has been signed.  After that, rental costs are due (you will receive further information on this in the Arrival Checklist after you have been accepted for your stay at TU Dortmund University).

You can read through a sample rental contract ("Mietvertrag Gaststudierende (Muster)") in German and English before you arrive. You can find all information here.

- Rental contract for exchange students (sample) German
- Rental contract for exchange students (sample) English

The rent for the dormitories is max. 450 EUR per month including incidentals (heating, water, electricity, waste disposal charges and internet) and a weekly cleaning service for the shared areas in the shared flats. Household contents insurance, telephone costs and broadcasting fees are not included.

The deposit for all dormitories is 700 EUR for exchange students, which must be transferred to the Studierendenwerk Dortmund in advance in order to make a reservation. The deposit will be refunded when you move out, provided there are no defects or rent arrears.

Since the request for rooms by regular students and exchange students from both universities in Dortmund is extremely high and the application process is very competitive, TU Dortmund University has set up a cooperation agreement with the Studierendenwerk Dortmund to ensure accommodation for exchange students. This service has been highly appreciated by exchange students for decades. Against the background of this cooperation agreement, higher rents apply to exchange students due to the facts that (1) a special room contingent is reserved to ensure accommodation for exchange students, (2) exchange students rent the rooms for much shorter periods, which results in significant additional administrative work and loss of rent for the Studierendenwerk Dortmund during some months in summer, (3) these accommodations are especially equipped to avoid exchange students having to take care of all the equipment themselves and (4) an additional cleaning service is carried out (since this cleaning service ensures that the accommodations remain well-maintained despite the increased tenant turnover, the service cannot be cancelled).

Extending your accommodation
If you would like to extend the period of your rental contract with Studierendenwerk Dortmund for academic reasons, please send us a new accommodation request with the updated rental period.
We will then clarify with the Studierendenwerk Dortmund whether an extension is possible and give you a response as soon as possible.

Cancellation of accommodation
The dormitories can only be rented for whole months. Since the rooms are reserved for a fixed period of time, there is no need to give a separate notice at the end of your stay at TU Dortmund University. If you need to terminate the rental contract before your rental end date and/or need to leave prior to the rental end date - for whatever reason -, the cancellation deadlines apply, which will be communicated to you with the Arrival Checklist. Notice of termination must be submitted in writing.

In Germany, all households are charged a radio licence fee. The broadcasting fee is charged per apartment and not per person. You can find more information here.

Furniture

The Studierendenwerk Dortmund provides exchange students with a bed, desk and desk chair, a wardrobe closet, kitchen utensils, pillow and blanket (bed linen must be brought by one self, the measurements are for the pillow approx. 80 x 80 cm, for the blanket and sheet approx. 2 x 1,35 m).

Internet

There is unlimited Internet access in all dormitories through LAN. You must bring your own LAN cable for use.

You will find an illustrated dictionary published by Deutsches Studierendenwerk on the subject of "Everyday life and living in student dormitories" in German, English and Chinese here.