11.1 How high are the fees for higher education institutions?

The Fee Regulations of the German Accreditation Council provide for higher education institutions to pay an annual basic fee (basic flat rate) and procedure-related fees (case flat rates) for each accreditation decision, graduated according to the size of the higher education institution. The basic fee is due for each higher education institution that has at least one currently accredited study programme (including Bachelor’s degree courses at colleges of cooperative education).

The amount of the basic flat rate and all other fees can be found in the Fee Regulations (see p. 3). The following fee rates apply:

A fee of 600 euros per study program is charged for decisions in programme accreditation, whereby in the case of bundled procedures and combined study programmes, each partial study programme counts as a study programme within the meaning of the Fee Regulations. Decisions in system accreditation are subject to a fee of 5,000 euros.

A new Fee Regulations will come into force on 01.01.2026. The contributions to the basic flat rate will be increased. The new fees can be found here: Fee Regulations.

Additional taxes (VAT or similar) do not apply.

No separate fees are charged for applications for the approval of cluster accreditations, deadline extensions, condition reviews, entries in the database of accredited study programmes or the review of essential changes to an accredited study programme or a quality assurance system; this work is covered by the above-mentioned fees.