What is BAföG?
BaföG is an abbreviation for a word that would surely be the longest in pretty much any other language expect German: Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetz. This tongue twister breaks down to mean Federal Training Assistance Act.
Ever since the 1970s it has helped Germans from poorer backgrounds to take up a place at university to at a training colleague, with the idea being that financial hardship should never prevent someone from entering higher education. The amount you receive depends on factors including your age, your living situation and your or your parents' income.
If you're under 25 and still live with your parents, you can receive up to €855 per month. If you're between 25 and 30, but you don't live with your parents anymore, you can receive €992 per month. If you're over 30, you can receive €1,088 per month.
Part of the funding you receive is a stipend that you don't have to pay back, and part is a loan that you will need to pay back once you've entered the workforce. The maximum you are expected to pay back is €10,010.
Some 630,000 students were being assisted with BaföG payments in 2022, according to the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space.
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Who is entitled to BAföG?
Your parents must have an income that does not exceed a certain threshold. Currently, the qualifying amount before taxes is €2,540 if your parents live together and €1,690 per parent if your parents live separately. If your own income exceeds €556 per month, that can reduce the amount of funding you are entitled to.
Your parents' income is not taken into account if you have been gainfully employed for five years since you turned 18 or if you have completed three years of vocational training and have then been employed for at least three years. If you are over 30, your parents income is also not considered.
Generally, you must be under 45 in order to qualify for BAföG, though there are some exemptions for the age restriction. If you can show that you were not able to start a course of study before your 45th birthday due to health or familial reasons then you might still be eligible later.
According to German law, your parents have an obligation to financially support your education. This means that German authorities ask for evidence of their income to assess whether you are in need of state support.
And this applies whether your parents work in Germany or abroad, the Education Ministry confirmed to The Local.
"Income calculation under the BAföG rules takes place regardless of whether one's parents live in Germany or abroad. This applies both to German nationals and to people with non-German nationality who are eligible for support under BAföG," a spokesperson for the ministry confirmed.
What about foreigners?
BaföG is by no means only available to Germans. A whole variety of foreign nationals can also apply.
The rules on which foreign nationals are entitled to financial support are fairly complicated. But the following list on eligibility is somewhat exhaustive:
- If you are an EU citizen, or from an EEA country, and you have lived in Germany for at least five years
- If you are married to, or are the child of, an EU citizen who has lived in Germany for at least five years
- If your are an EU citizen who lives and works in Germany and whose intended course of study is connected to your current job
- If you are not an EU citizen but have obtained permanent residency in Germany
- If you have received refugee status
- If you have lived in the country for at least 15 months as a ‘tolerated’ person (ie you applied for asylum and weren’t given full refugee status)
- If at least one of your parents has lived and worked in Germany for three of the past six years
- You are married to a German national and have moved to Germany.
- You are the spouse or child of a foreign national who holds a permanent residency permit.
Due to the relative complexity of these rules it is advisable to speak to local organisations that support students such as the Studentenwerk Hamburg, the StudierendenWERK BERLIN or the Studentenwerk München.
READ ALSO: Essential German words to know as a student in Germany
How do repayments work?
The Federal Education Ministry states that you are expected to pay back your loan even if you return to your home country after completing your studies.
Repayment begins five years after you received the last installment of the loan at which point you are expected to pay back €390 quarterly. Although this amount can be reduced if your salary is low.
If you haven’t paid everything back after 20 years then the rest of the debt is dropped.
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