apply for BAföG to study

BAföG is the abbreviation for Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetz. BAföG is the colloquial term for the funding that you can receive under this law. You receive this support to finance

• your studies,
• under certain conditions of a prescribed internship within the framework of your studies.

In order to receive the monthly grant, you must meet a number of requirements. The most important are:

• Your parents and/or your spouse/life partner do not have a higher income
• You yourself have no or only a low income, for example from a mini-job.
• Your assets are below the tax-free amount of EUR 8,200 or only slightly above it.
• You are studying full-time
• Age limit: 30 years; in the Master 35 years (exceptions are possible)

The amount of your BAföG is based on a fixed monthly requirement. Money is deducted from this requirement if your parents, your spouse/life partner or you yourself earn a little more.

If you are studying, you will receive half of the funding as a loan and half as a grant. This means that you regularly only have to pay back half of the money after you have finished your studies. In principle, you do not have to pay any interest on the loan ("interest-free loan"). The maximum repayment amount, regardless of how much the total grant was, is usually EUR 10,010. This corresponds to 77 monthly instalments of EUR 130.00 each from the start of repayment. The Federal Office of Administration is responsible for loan collection. You do not start repaying the loan until 5 years after the end of the maximum funding period, which usually corresponds to your standard period of study. If you do not earn enough to cover the repayment of your loan, you can apply for a deferment of payment at the Federal Office of Administration.

Students
If you are a student, your monthly needs are made up of different parts:

• Basic needs:
  • EUR 427.00 if you are completing your education at a higher technical school, academy or college (for example, at a university).
• Need for accommodation:
  • EUR 56.00 if you live with your parents or
  • EUR 325.00 if you do not live with your parents.
• If you cannot take out health/care insurance through your parents, you will receive an additional EUR 84.00 or EUR 25.00 respectively.
• If you have a child who is younger than 14 and lives in your household, you will also receive a childcare supplement: EUR 150.00 for each child.

If you are spending a semester or year abroad, you can apply for supplements towards travel expenses, tuition fees and health insurance abroad; in the case of study stays in the EU, shorter stays than six months are also eligible for support; furthermore, you can also receive BAföG if you complete your entire studies abroad in the EU; in the case of study stays abroad outside the EU/Switzerland, purchasing power compensation is also granted.

The following amounts are taken into account, i.e. they reduce your BAföG requirement:

• Your parents' and/or spouse's/domestic partner's income in the penultimate year before the start of the grant period, if it is above the allowance. The allowance is:
  • EUR 2,000 if your parents live together,
  • EUR 1,330 per parent if your parents live separately, and
  • EUR 1,330 for a possible spouse/life partner.
  • Note: If your parents or your spouse/life partner currently earn significantly less than in the year before last before you were granted, you can apply for an update.
  • BAföG independent of parents: Your parents' income is not taken into account,
    • if you have been gainfully employed for five years after turning 18,
    • if you have completed a three-year course of training and have subsequently been gainfully employed for at least three years (if you have completed a shorter course of training, you will have been gainfully employed for a correspondingly longer period),
    • in certain exceptional cases, if you are over 30 years old when you start your training.
• Your own income, if it is more than EUR 450.00 per month.
• Your own assets, if they exceed EUR 8,200.

Note: The starting point for calculating your income is always the sum of your positive income. In the case of training assistance law, this is the gross income minus the

• income-related expenses,
• social lump sum and the
• taxes actually paid, including church tax and solidarity surcharge.

You can receive BAföG until the end of the standard period of study. Only in exceptional cases can your BAföG be extended thereafter, for example if you

• have failed the final examination for the first time,
• have a disability,
• are or were pregnant,
• have brought up a child up to the age of 14,
• are or have been active in committees and bodies of the university, the student self-administration, the student unions or the federal states as provided for by law or by the statutes, or
• have cared for close relatives classified at least in care degree 3.

If you drop out of a course of study and start another course of study ("change of course of study"), your new course of study can only be funded if

• the change has taken place in the 2nd semester at the latest or
• the change has taken place in the 3rd semester and there is an important reason for the change or
• the change follows from the 4th semester and there was an unavoidable reason for the change, for example:
  • a disability or allergy to certain substances which occurred after you started your studies and which makes it impossible for you to continue your studies or to pursue the profession you have pursued up to now.

Trainees
BAföG can only support internships that you complete while you are undergoing training that is eligible for support under BAföG.

Only compulsory internships are funded. These are internships that are prescribed by your study regulations or training plan, i.e. that you have to do in order to complete your studies or training. Compulsory traineeships that are completed outside the EU are only eligible if they last at least 12 weeks. Compulsory traineeships within EU member states can also be funded if they are shorter than 12 weeks.

You can also receive BAföG if you complete your entire studies abroad in the EU.