Education in Germany
Public universities in Germany are funded by the federal states and do not charge tuition fees. However, all enrolled students do have to pay a semester fee ("Semesterbeitrag"). This fee consists of an administrative fee for the university (only in some of the states), a fee for "Studentenwerk", which is a statutory student affairs organization, a fee for the university's AStA ("Allgemeiner Studentenausschuss", students' government) and "Studentenschaft" (students' union), at many universities a fee for public transportation, and possibly more fees as decided by the university's students' parliament (e.g., for a cooperation with a local theater granting free entry for students). Summed up, the semester fee usually ranges between €150 and €350.
Diplom-Jurist
Historically, German law students did not receive any academic degree upon completion of their curriculum. Instead, after usually four or five years of study, students would sit their First State Examination (Erstes Staatsexamen) in Law, which was administered by the ministry of justice of the respective state, not the university. More recently, however, some universities have begun to award their students a Diplom-Jurist upon passing the First State Examination, in order to indicate the equivalence of the education to a master's degree in other disciplines.