Frequently Asked Questions about BAföG

• Applying for BAföG
• How much is BAföG?
• The income of my parents and/or my husband or wife has decreased!
• My parents are not paying their assistance as determined by BAföG!
• Are there cases in which the income of the parents is not included in the calculation?
• Time Limits of Assistance (Förderungshöchstdauer)
• Certificates of Proof (Leistungsnachweise)
• I intend to switch programmes of study or to quit my studies.
• Is income from a part-time job calculated against BAföG?
• Can I study with BAföG in a foreign country?
• Must BAföG be paid back?

BAföG is provided at the earliest for the month during which the application was submitted. The required forms must be used to apply for BAföG. If an applicant does not yet have these forms or is waiting for documents from his or her parents, then the applicant can, within the deadline, informally apply for BAföG in a letter with the declaration “hiermit beantrage ich Ausbildungsförderung” (herewith, I am applying for education or training assistance). The application and documents can then be submitted at a later date.

The required application forms and respective information brochures can be found at the Studentenwerk Potsdam’s Education Assistance Office (Amt für Ausbildungsförderung) or [here].

In order to continuously receive BAföG, repeat applications with the required documentation must be submitted to the Education Assistance Office (Amt für Ausbildungsförderung) at the latest two months before the end of the current time period of assistance. This time period lasts, as a rule, twelve months.

Students who still live with their parents receive the basic assistance in the amount of 422€. Students with their own flat receive 597€, independent of the actual amount of rent paid. If the student’s flat costs more than 146€ per month, then the BAföG office pays an additional 64€. In addition, BAföG provides 73€ for health insurance and long-term care insurance. In total, students who live with their parents can receive a maximum of 495€ and the others 670€. 

Students with children can receive an additional 113€ per month for the first child and 85€ for each additional child.

As a rule, BAföG is dependent on the income of the parents and/or husband or wife. For BAföG, the income of the year prior to the time period of assistance is the determining factor. For example, if one applies for BAföG in 2012, then the income for the calendar year 2010 is used.

The level of BAföG assistance is, as a rule, determined by the income in the previous calendar year prior to application. If, however, the income level has in the meantime decreased significantly, for example due to unemployment, retirement, etc., then one can apply to update (form no. 7). For more details, you should consult the Education Assistance Office (Amt für Ausbildungsförderung) prior to applying to update your status.

If your parents declare that they can no longer provide assistance, that they must end their assistance, or that they no longer want to provide assistance, and if this thus endangers the success of your studies, then students can apply for advanced payments (form no. 8). In this case, the Education Assistance Office provides at first the open assistance payments in the place of the parents. Later it will attempt to retrieve these so-called advanced payments from the parents. If the parents are not required to provide assistance, then a type of parent-independent assistance will be provided.

BAföG also provides parent-independent assistance. When students between their 18th birthday and the beginning of their studies were employed for at least five years, when the beginning of the studies after a previous three-year traineeship occurred, or when the traineeship was shorter and employment longer, then the law states that parents are not required to provide assistance.

In these years of employment, the student must have financed his or her own costs of living. Concerning the aforementioned time limits, basic military service or alternative civil service or child rearing are calculated into the formula.

Parent-independent assistance is also offered when one has passed the 30th year of life. It is important to note that when one begins studies after this point in life, then assistance is only provided in specific circumstances. In these cases, one should quickly begin their studies after attaining the right to study at an institute of higher learning. Please consult the Education Assistance Office (Amt für Ausbildungsförderung) prior to applying.

The time limit of assistance is the regular period of study (Regelstudienzeit) stated in the relevant official documents for the programme of study at the student’s institute of higher learning. In specific circumstances, BAföG will be granted past this time limit, i.e. when the end of one’s studies is delayed for the following reasons:

• illness
• participation in the central governing bodies of the institute of higher learning
• not passing a final exam for the first time
• disability, pregnancy, and child rearing of a child under ten years of age (assistance is a full grant)

Moreover, twelve months of assistance for the degree attainment phase of studies is granted when the student has achieved all other requirements within the time limits of assistance or extended time limits and can finish one’s degree within twelve months.

Please take note that you should visit the office for consultation!

With the beginning of the fifth semester of study in a programme of study (Fachsemester), further assistance will only be granted when a certificate of proof of achievement (form no. 5) is submitted which show the “normal level of achievement” for the past semesters. As certificates of proof of achievement, one can submit:

• a certificate of proof of achievement from the first four months of the fourth semester of study in a programme of study which shows the level of achievement at the end of the third semester

or

• a certificate of proof of achievement from the last two months of the fourth semester of study in a programme of study or the first four months of the fifth semester of study in a programme of study which shows the level of achievement at the end of the fourth semester (see an example form here for the fifth semester beginning on 01 April 2008)

or

• instead of form 5, a certificate or an print of the individual reached ECTS points. This is a alternate for the fifth form. The required achievements are supplied to the scores at least equal to scores, which after the identification of the full-time member of the teaching staff of school to be considered as usual.

What “normal achievements” are is not determined by the Education Assistance Office, but rather by a regularly-employed instructor at the institute of higher learning, the so-called BAföG representative (BAföG-Beauftragter). The certificate of proof of achievement must be from the programme of study for which the assistance has been granted (for studies in more than one programme of study, for each individual programme of study).

Important: In specific circumstances, submitting a certificate of proof of achievement is possible past this time limit, i.e. when the one’s studies are delayed for the following reasons:

• illness
• participation in the central governing bodies of the institute of higher learning
• not passing a mid-study exam for the first time
• disability, pregnancy, and child rearing of a child under ten years of age (assistance is a full grant)

Please take note that you should visit the office for consultation in a timely manner.

Switching programmes of study and quitting studies does not have negative consequences for further assistance when it occurs for an important reason prior to the beginning of the fourth semester of study in a particular programme of study. Until the end of the third semester of study in a programme of study, switching or quitting studies will always be considered as having an important reason.

After one has switched programmes of study, semesters under the old programme of study can be counted under certain conditions even after one has studied more than three semesters in the programme of study. For example, a timely switch after four semesters will result in the counting of two semesters of the old programme and two semesters of the new programme of study.

After the time limits of assistance have expired, the semesters in the old programme of study not counted to the new programme will only be financed through a bank loan.

If the switch occurs for an irrefutable reason (e.g. through accident which limits one’s ability to study or work in the intended field), then a switch even in later semesters is possible.

Gross monthly income from a part-time job of around 400€ does not affect BAföG. For married students or students with children, this limit is increased. If one has no income in one month, then in the next month one can earn that much more. Regarding income from internships, there is no exemption. For orphan’s pension, only the basic pension of 125€ is exempt.

Travelling educates! The legislators agree as well. Studies in a foreign country can be started, continued, or finished with degree with BAföG (see European Court decisions -Az: C-11/06 and C-12/06). Up to two semesters without degree in a foreign country are not counted towards the time limit of assistance (Förderungshöchstdauer). Important: applications for BAföG in a foreign country (Auslands-BAföG) must be submitted to specific assistance offices. Please refer here for the office in your region.

BAföG is divided into two parts: one-half is a credit-free loan, the other half is a grant. For periods of child rearing, BAföG consists of a full grant. The loan to be paid back is limited to a maximum of ten thousand Euros. Repayment begins five years after the end of the BAföG time limit of assistance. The amount to be paid on the loan is, as a rule, 105€. Upon application within a month of receiving the repayment assessment (Rückzahlungsbescheid), one can take advantage of various waiver programmes www.bundesverwaltungsamt.de (in German), for example for especially fast or successful studies, for early repayment, etc. Repayment is income-dependent, i.e. persons with low incomes can be relieved of repayment.

Changes in name and/or address after studies must be registered at the Federal Administration Office (Bundesverwaltungsamt).

Bundesverwaltungsamt
50728 Köln
bafoeg(at)bva.bund.de