In order to live and study in Germany, you must have a valid health insurance. If at any time we don’t have a proof of your health insurance, we will take steps to revoke your student status. The options and conditions for a valid health insurance are outlined in the tabs below.

We strongly recommend the German public health insurance as it covers you in all cases and emergencies, regardless of the treatment costs, be it in inpatient or outpatient treatment and is not limited in time.

Any decision regarding your health insurance made as a Bachelor or Master student may be changed within the first 3 months of your enrollment. After the 3rd month, the decision can no longer be revoked. If you do not make a decision in the first three months, you will be forced into the German public insurance.

Key benefits of public health insurance:

• Full coverage regardless of the treatment cost for procedures that are deemed medically necessary
• Family members (Children/Spouse) are co-insured free of contributions
• Doctors balance their accounts directly with the health insurance fund – there is no need for cash payments and then claiming the money back
• The contribution for students is almost the same in the German public insurance by the different providers and the rate amounts to about 109 Euros per month / 653 Euros for six months. 

You must retain (and keep paying for) your health insurance for the entire duration of your Bachelor or Master studies even if you are on a leave of absence or on a study abroad.

As a Bachelor or Master student from  outside the EU/EAA /Switzerland or contract country, you are legally obliged to insure with the German public health insurance.

If you are from the EU/EAA /Switzerland or a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Turkey and Tunis, please see next tab for more information.

Under special conditions, you may apply for dispensation from the obligation to insure with German public insurance. For more information see the private health insurance tab.

PhD students and students older than 30 years have to pay an individual rate and may not be eligible for a public insurance. Please get in touch with the health insurance providers on campus.

As a citizen of the EU (Cyprus – only the EU part of the country) /EAA / Switzerland, as well as  of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Turkey and Tunis, you do not have to be insured in Germany, provided that you have the European health insurance card (EHIC)  or the insurance form (in your local language and German) from your home country.

You can switch between the German public health insurance and your country’s any time.

Please note: If you have any paid activity in Germany, be it an internship, a student job or even a mini-job, you will be required to sign up and pay for the German public health insurance. After your contract has ended, you may switch back to your EU health insurance.

Private health insurance companies are profit-oriented and may deny membership for a number of reasons. Privately insured students must pay services in advance and only certain services (and up to a certain amount) are reimbursed. Family members cannot be co-insured free of contributions.

If you, nevertheless, would like to have a private health insurance (from Germany or from your country), you must apply for a dispensation from the obligation. It’s very unlikely that it will be granted, unless your private insurance is equal in service with the German public insurance, namely:

• your private insurance must not be limited in time (unless it covers the full time of your studies in Germany)
• your private insurance must covers all costs (not only to a certain amount) when in outpatient and inpatient treatment

It is highly unlikely that a private insurance will be accepted as a basis for dispensation.

To inquire about dispensation, please contact directly the health insurances companies on campus.

You can apply for German public health insurance in advance and use the confirmation when applying for your student visa with a German embassy in your home country. Please complete the form below and send it to the Health Insurance representative as described on the form. You will receive a confirmation valid for your Visa. Please print this confirmation and provide it as proof of health insurance to the German embassy.

Two German public health insurance companies are present on campus:

Techniker Krankenkasse (TK)

• Techniker Krankenkasse Application Form

AOK Bremen / Bremerhaven

• Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse Application Form

PhD students and students older than 30 years have to pay an individual rate and may not be eligible for a public insurance.

Hospital Bremen North
How to get there:
From Vegesack take bus no. 90 in the direction of  Blumenthal – Neuenkirchen or bus no.  95 in the direction of Blumenthal – Bockhorn. Approximately in 12 minutes you will reach  Klinikum Bremen-Nord station.
There is a regional train runs every half an hour from BF Vegesack to  BF Farge.  From BF  Vegesack,  it will take 6 minutes to reach BF Klinikum Nord station.

Doctors in Reeder-Bischoff-Str. 28
How to get there:
This building situated at the entrance to the Vegesack pedestrian zone and thus within 5 minutes of walking from  Vegesack railway station you will reach there. From Vegesack station walk

Doctors in Gerhard-Rohlfs Strasse
How to get there:
Take any bus from Bf Vegesack in the opposite direction of JUB and get off Gerhard-Rohlfs Strasse (first stop after Bahnhof Vegesack).  Walk on Gerhard-Rohlfs Strasse (pedestrian zone with shops) in 2 min you will find two Apotheke (dispensary), in between these dispensaries you will see doctors nameplates.

It is recommended that before visiting a doctor you always ask for an appointment over the telephone.

Official excuses from academic obligations will be granted for no other reasons than sickness, health or personal emergency.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic our submission's policy has changed.  We are accepting the yellow certificate (Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung) and submissions can be done electronically via Campusnet. Please follow these instructions:

How to submit a sick certificate via Campusnet.

1. Log in to campusnet https://campusnet.jacobs-university.de/
2. On the left corner, click on ‘My Requests’
3. Click on ‘Start’ next to ‘Request to be Excused’
4. Fill the information and upload your yellow sick certificate
5. Click on ‘Check for completeness and submit data’ once you are done

Once we’ve received and reviewed your excuse, we will inform the instructor(s) via email about your absence.

There are strict rules in order to be officially excused. You can find the regulations in the policies.

Regardless of the reason for their absence, students must inform the Instructor on Record before the beginning of the examination or class/lab session that they will not be able to attend. The day after the excuse ends, students must contact the Instructor of Record.

Students have the right to take one make-up exam within the deadline for students to submit materials for incompletes as published in the Academic Calendar. Failure to do so will lead to a continued incomplete of the module until the missing requirements are fulfilled or definitively failed.

Once the medical excuse form has been reviewed, the instructors will be informed about the absence and students would need to follow up and coordinate for the make-up, if applicable. The university reserves the right to ask for a second medical opinion and/or to reject the medical excuse form.