# Study in Saxony, Germany > Saxony has 27 universities and colleges offering 1,171 degree courses (393 Bachelor's, 553 Master's), and 25% of them are taught in English or bilingually. A student flat costs about €454 a month (30 m² flat in Leipzig incl. utilities, MLP Studentenwohnreport 2026). Tuition for non-EU students: €0 — Most public universities charge no tuition for regular degrees, only the semester contribution (about €300–400). Exception: the music colleges in Leipzig and Dresden charge non-EU students. Baroque Dresden, creative Leipzig and some of the lowest student rents in Germany. Saxony has a big research scene, with TU Dresden and Leipzig University at its core, and Europe's largest microelectronics cluster around Dresden. **Find a course:** https://app.whereismyuni.com/dashboard/map?area=SN ## Cost of living - Rent: ≈ €454 (30 m² flat in Leipzig incl. utilities, MLP Studentenwohnreport 2026) - Tuition for non-EU students: €0 — Most public universities charge no tuition for regular degrees, only the semester contribution (about €300–400). Exception: the music colleges in Leipzig and Dresden charge non-EU students. - Chemnitz has the cheapest student flats of all 38 cities in the MLP 2026 study — about €277 for 30 m². - Leipzig (≈ €454) and Dresden (≈ €538) are about an hour apart by train, so you can enjoy both. - Prague is about two and a half hours from Dresden by direct train. ## Industries & employers - **Infineon · Bosch · GlobalFoundries** (Semiconductors): Chip fabs in Dresden — the heart of 'Silicon Saxony'. - **ESMC (TSMC)** (Semiconductors): TSMC's joint-venture chip fab is being built in Dresden. - **Volkswagen** (Automotive): Electric-car plant in Zwickau. - **BMW · Porsche** (Automotive): Both have car plants in Leipzig. - **DHL** (Logistics): Its largest air-freight hub is at Leipzig/Halle Airport. ## Culture & people Saxons are proud of their heritage — of Dresden's baroque skyline, Leipzig's music history (Bach, Mendelssohn, the Gewandhaus Orchestra) and the 1989 Monday demonstrations that helped bring down the Berlin Wall. The Saxon dialect is soft and much teased in the rest of Germany. Coffee and cake are taken seriously: try Eierschecke and, at Christmas, Dresden Christstollen. Leipzig has a large alternative and arts scene in old factory spaces, while the Ore Mountains are famous for wooden Christmas crafts like nutcrackers and incense smokers. ## Events & festivals - **Striezelmarkt, Dresden** (Advent): One of Germany's oldest Christmas markets, held since 1434. - **Leipzig Book Fair** (March): A huge book fair open to the public, with the Manga-Comic-Con alongside. - **Wave-Gotik-Treffen, Leipzig** (Pentecost): The world's largest goth festival, which takes over the whole city for four days. - **Bachfest Leipzig** (June): Concerts of Bach's music in the city where he worked for 27 years. ## Places to see - **Frauenkirche, Dresden** (Landmark): The baroque church destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt stone by stone, reopened in 2005. - **Zwinger, Dresden** (Palace): A baroque palace complex with the Old Masters Picture Gallery. - **Augustusplatz, Leipzig** (City): The big square with the opera house, the Gewandhaus and Leipzig University's main building. - **Saxon Switzerland** (Nature): Sandstone towers above the Elbe, including the Bastei bridge — an easy day trip from Dresden. - **Chemnitz** (City): European Capital of Culture 2025, known for its giant Karl Marx head. - **Ore Mountains mining region** (UNESCO): Centuries of silver and tin mining on the Czech border, with old mines you can visit. ## Getting around Most universities include the Deutschland-Semesterticket in the semester contribution. The S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland links Leipzig with Halle and the surrounding region, and Dresden has a dense tram network. Leipzig is a major rail hub with ICE trains to Berlin in about 1 hour 15 minutes and to Munich and Frankfurt. Dresden has direct trains to Prague, and both cities have airports — Leipzig/Halle and Dresden. ## FAQ ### Is Saxony cheap for students? Yes. A 30 m² student flat costs about €454 a month in Leipzig, €538 in Dresden and only €277 in Chemnitz, the cheapest of 38 cities in the MLP Studentenwohnreport 2026. ### Do international students pay tuition in Saxony? Not at most universities: Leipzig University, TU Dresden and TU Chemnitz charge only the semester contribution. The music colleges are the exception — HMT Leipzig charges non-EU students €1,800 per semester, and HfM Dresden also charges some non-EU students. ### Can I study in English in Saxony? Yes — 25% of the 1,171 degree courses listed for Saxony on Where Is My Uni? are taught in English or bilingually. ### Leipzig or Dresden: which is better for students? Leipzig is cheaper and has a more alternative, creative scene; Dresden is strong in engineering and microelectronics, with TU Dresden and the chip industry, and has a more classical, baroque feel. ### How do I get around Saxony as a student? The Deutschland-Semesterticket included at most universities covers trams, buses and regional trains; Leipzig and Dresden are about an hour apart by train. ## Sources - [MLP Studentenwohnreport 2026 (IW Köln)](https://www.iwkoeln.de/studien/michael-voigtlaender-christian-oberst-philipp-deschermeier-mlp-studentenwohnreport-2026.html) - [Leipzig University — overview (tuition and semester fee)](https://www.visaflow.app/universities/leipzig-university) - [HMT Leipzig — fees for non-EU students](https://www.visaflow.app/universities/hmt-leipzig) - [HfM Dresden — fees](https://www.visaflow.app/universities/hfm-dresden) - [Wikipedia — Saxony](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxony) - [Wikipedia — Silicon Saxony](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Saxony) - [Wikipedia — Dresden Frauenkirche](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dresden_Frauenkirche) --- Published by [Where Is My Uni?](https://whereismyuni.com) — every German university on one map. Canonical page: https://whereismyuni.com/study-in/saxony. Last updated November 2026. [How we research](https://whereismyuni.com/study-in/how-we-research).