It is perfectly possible to study at Freie Universität Berlin with a small child. However, try to find out as much as possible about your options as a parent before your arrival - even if, for example, registering for daycare is only possible after you arrive (see below).

The Freie Universität offers a range of service for students with children and has some general information about family services on its website. The Studierendenwerk Berlin also offers a counseling center for students with children. Well-equipped parent-child rooms are located in our two departmental buildings, in the "Holzlaube" and in the building at Koserstraße 20. The university's refectories offer free refectory meals for students' children up to the age of six.

Families with children are supported by the state. If your child lives with you in Germany, you can apply for child benefit. Child benefit is guaranteed until the child is 18 years old. For more information, please contact the Welcome Center Berlin.

The most important questions for you might be about daycare. Daycare even for very young children (usually in a kindergarten a.k.a. "Kita") is very common in Germany and also free of charge in Berlin. However, there is a shortage of Kita places in the city, so you will need to look for a place and register as soon as possible after your arrival. Some very useful general information about childcare in Berlin can be found on the (private) website sette-in-berlin.com. Most official website are only available in German.

The Studierendenwerk Berlin operates a daycare center at Freie Universität Berlin for approximately 180 children aged two months to six years. It is located in green surroundings and has a very lare and diverse garden area. Since it can be difficult to get a place there, you should register as soon as possible.

Registration for this or any other daycare center (Kita) in Berlin is free of charge, but requires a childcare voucher (Kita-Gutschein), which is applied for at the youth welfare office of the family's district of residence. Official information in English about the voucher system can be found on the website of the Welcome Center Berlin and on th website of the district Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg. However, the form and the online form are unfortunately only available in German.

To apply, you will need your residential registration and confirmation of enrollment from Freie Universität Berlin. This means that you cannot apply for a voucher before your arrival in Germany and there cannot register for a daycare center.

Information about the Berlin school system is available at the Welcome Center Berlin. The city of Berlin has produced a film about the school system in German, Romanian, Bulgarian, Turkish and Arabic.