Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

STUDYING IN GERMANY

German students to get higher grants from winter 2022

The German Bundestag has voted to increase the Bafög allowance and loosen the criteria for applying for student grants.

Published: 23 June 2022 16:05 CEST
Students at Heidelberg University sit in a lecture hall.
Students at Heidelberg University sit in a lecture hall. Photo: picture alliance / Uwe Anspach/dpa | Uwe Anspach

On Thursday, the Bundestag voted through a 5.75 percent increase in Bafög – Germany’s grant and loan system for students – alongside an increase in both the housing and the childcare allowance for students.

From the start of the winter semester, the basic Bafög entitlement will increase to €452 per month and the housing cost supplement for students who don’t live with their parents will increase from €325 to €360.

The maximum support rate including the housing cost supplement will thus rise from €861 to €934 – an increase of more than eight percent.

Bafög recipients who don’t live with their parents will also receive a one-off subsidy of €230 to help with rising energy bills. According to official statistics, about three quarters of Bafög recipients live away from home. 

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Can foreigners apply for student finance in Germany?

As well as raising grants, the government is also widening the eligibility criteria so that more students and trainees will be eligible for full Bafög payments.

Previously, grants for students whose married parents earned more than €2,000 a month were reduced to factor in their parent’s income. From October, however, payments will only be reduced for people whose parents earn a combined income of €2,400 or more. 

Students under the age of 30 will also be able to claim the full amount of Bafög if they have less than €15,000 in assets, while students over the age of 30 can hold assets of up to €45,000. 

“The previous support system excluded too many people,” said Federal Education Minister Betting Stark-Watzinger (FDP). “We are reversing this trend.”

There are also plans for an online application system to make it easier to apply for support in future.

‘A drop in the ocean’

The traffic-light coalition had originally planned a Bafög increase of five percent but later revised this to six percent to compensate for the rising cost of living.

However, student representatives and the German Student Union still say the current increase is too low. 

“Unfortunately, this is only a drop in the ocean,” said Kristof Becker, Federal Youth Secretary of the DGB Youth. “In view of the current dramatic inflation rate, you don’t have to be a maths genius to see that the increase is not enough.”

Speaking in parliament ahead of the vote, the Left Party politician Nicole Gohlke said the changes were “purely cosmetic” and accused the government of being out of touch.

The American Memorial Library in Berlin

The American Memorial Library in Berlin. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Jörg Carstensen

“Inflation will eat up the Bafög increase entirely, there’s nothing left over,” he said. 

However, the government pointed out that an additional €2 billion would be made available for Bafög reforms in the coming years. The current law is only the first step, they argued. 

The bill to raise Bafög and increase the number of eligible students was passed with the combined votes of the three traffic-light coalition parties and the Left Party. The opposition CDU/CSU parties and the far-right AfD voted against the reform.

“Education is an opportunity, but not a state-guaranteed human right for everyone,” AfD education policy spokesperson Götz Frömming said.

READ ALSO: Essential German words to know as a student in Germany

The new Bafög rates and rules: 

Bafög grants: The basic Bafög rate for students will be raised from €427 to €452 per month. Those who no longer live with their parents can also receive €360 instead of the previous €325 for rent. Students who have their own health and care insurance and no longer live with their parents will receive higher supplements.

Allowances: In order to increase the number of Bafög recipients, €2,415 of monthly parental income will be exempt from grant calculations. Previously, just €2,000 was exempt. Other allowances will also be increased, for example for married people and students with children.

Protected assets: Those under 30 can hold up to €15,000 in assets, and those over 30 can hold up to €45,000 in assets, without this being counted towards Bafög. Previously, all assets over €8,200 were counted.

Part-time jobs: Students should be able to earn €330 in a part-time job without this affecting the Bafög grant, up from €290. 

Childcare allowance: Students with children will be able to receive a childcare allowance of €160 per month instead of the previous €150. The money is intended for babysitters, for example, when classes are held in the evenings.

Age limit: In future, students who want to take up a course of study later on will also be able to receive Bafög. The age limit will be raised from 30 to 45.

Pupils and trainees: Pupils and trainees who live away from home can in future receive €632 instead of the previous €585.

READ ALSO: Germany boosts funding for EU’s Erasmus student exchange programme

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

STUDYING IN GERMANY

Where can university students in Germany get a ‘Deutschlandticket’ for €29?

Originally launched year ago for €49 a month, the Deutschlandticket allows holders to take unlimited trips around Germany on regional and local transport. As of April it's been rolled out at universities across the country - with a big student discount. But not everyone is eligible.

Published: 3 April 2024 11:37 CEST
Where can university students in Germany get a 'Deutschlandticket' for €29?

The summer semester in Germany started in April, which means that many of the approximately three million students can take advantage of a discounted Deutschlandticket for €29.40. 

The popular transport ticket, launched on May 1st of last year, allows for unlimited nationwide travel on local and regional busses and trains.

However not all Unis are taking part, especially in cases where their previous ‘semester ticket’ is cheaper. Here’s an overview of where the tickets is available to students around the country.

READ ALSO: Everything that changes in Germany in April 2024

Baden-Württemberg

In Ba-Wü, the “D-Ticket JugendBW” has been available since December for €365 per year. Like the Deutschlandticket, both tickets entitle the holder to use buses and trains on local transport throughout the Bundesrepublik.

Bavaria

Bavaria continues to go its own way with the €29 “Bavarian discount ticket” (Bayerische Ermäßigungsticket), which has been available to students, trainees and volunteers since September. It also allows for unlimited local and regional transport throughout the country, and for 40 cents cheaper per month than its nationwide competitor.

Berlin and Brandenburg

Of the 36 universities that already have semester ticket agreements with the Berlin-Brandenburg Transport Association (VBB), around 80 percent have opted for the Deutschlandticket at a monthly price of €29.40, according to the Berlin Senate Transport Administration. Students who opt for a semester ticket – which will also allow for use of regional and local trains nationwide – can expect to pay €32 in Berlin and €34 to €36 in Brandenburg.

READ ALSO: Working hours to visas: The new rules for international students in Germany

Hamburg and Hesse

The 120,000 students at 17 universities in Hesse and around 85,000 students at 25 universities in Hamburg have been able to use public transport throughout Germany with the new Deutschlandticket since the beginning of March or the beginning of April, depending on when their semester starts.

Rhineland-Palatinate

In neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate, the Deutschlandticket for students will initially be launched in Mainz and Trier in the summer semester, with Koblenz to follow suit in the winter semester.

North Rhine-Westphalia

Most universities in Germany’s most populous state have also switched from the previous semester ticket to the discounted Deutschlandticket at the start of the new semester. They include the universities of Cologne, Düsseldorf, Münster, Bochum, Duisburg-Essen and Bonn, TU Dortmund University and the universities in Aachen and Bielefeld. Others are to follow in the winter semester. 

Unlike the Deutschlandticket, the previous semester ticket was only valid regionally.

Tram Leipzig

A tram drives through Leipzig. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Jan Woitas

Saxony

Most students at universities in Saxony will be able to use the discounted Deutschlandticket from the summer semester – for example in Dresden, Leipzig and Zwickau. An agreement with Chemnitz University of Technology is currently being finalised, according to the Central Saxony Transport Association. .

Saxony-Anhalt

In many places, the regional semester ticket is considerably cheaper than the nationwide Deutschlandticket – for example at the universities in Magdeburg, Wernigerode and Stendal. As surveys among students are still ongoing, the changeover can only take place there for the winter semester at the earliest, a spokeswoman for the Magdeburg Student Union told DPA.

In Halle and Merseburg, on the other hand, students have been able to use discounted Deutschlandticket nationwide from April 1st.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

In the northwestern state, only the University of Rostock is taking part. The University of Greifswald and the universities of Stralsund and Neubrandenburg have decided against the ticket.

Lower Saxony, Saarland, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen

In Lower Saxony and Saarland, the Deutschlandticket for students will not be introduced until the winter semester. The same applies in the northern city-state of Bremen.

Germany’s northernmost state of Schleswig-Holstein is also aiming to offer the ticket for the 2024/25 winter semester. Planning is still ongoing, according to the University of Lübeck’s student association.

Thuringia

If at all, the Deutschlandticket for students will not be available until the winter semester, but likely only at major university locations such as Erfurt and Jena.

SHOW COMMENTS