On this page, you will find a summary of the key information about BAföG.
Financial support for your studies will be provided for as long as you are enrolled on a course that qualifies for funding. If you withdraw from your studies early, your entitlement to funding will generally cease immediately, even if the approval period stated in your notification is still ongoing. You must therefore notify us in writing of your withdrawal without delay in order to avoid having to repay large sums of money. You must submit your certificate of withdrawal.
The duration and amount of the grant depend on many factors. In your application, you set out the basic eligibility criteria and the basis for calculating your grant amount. On this basis, a decision is then made regarding your entitlement, usually for the following academic year. If, during the approved funding period, there are any changes to the circumstances set out in your application, this may have a direct impact on your entitlement to funding.
All changes (e.g. change of address, change of bank details, changes in family circumstances or regarding siblings, changes to your studies (sabbatical semester, change of subject, discontinuation of studies, etc.) must therefore be reported in writing without delay. This allows the funding to be adjusted promptly to the changed situation, which may result in you receiving additional funding in the short term or help you avoid having to repay large sums later on.
As a general rule, we calculate the amount of your grant based on the income of your parents and spouse from the year before last. If your income increases each year, this will always work in your favour.
However, if your parents or spouse currently have a lower income than they did two years ago, you may be able to submit an update application (Form 7) to have your grant amount recalculated, which could result in a higher grant amount. You can submit this application at any time during your grant period. However, please be sure to seek our advice on this matter!
Please note that the grant is subject to recovery! This means that if, following the determination of your parents’ or parent’s actual income (after a few years), it turns out that their income is higher than forecast in the update application, this may result in a (partial) recovery of the BAföG for the relevant approval period.
As a general rule, anyone who has not yet reached the age of 45 at the start of their studies is eligible for funding.
Submit your application for student finance as early as possible, and in any case by the end of the month in which your studies began at the latest.
You will receive BAföG from the month in which you submitted your application at the earliest – but not before the start of your studies or retroactively.
You should submit a renewal application as early as possible, ideally around 3 months before the end of your current funding period, to avoid any annoying gaps in your payments. To secure your entitlement for the following period, the application must be submitted by the end of the month following the last month of the previous funding period at the latest.
Example:
Your current funding period runs from October 2025 to September 2026. You should submit a renewal application in good time by 30 October 2026; ideally, the application should be almost complete and with us by 31 July 2026.
For a renewal application, it is usually sufficient to submit Form 9 and a certificate of enrolment. In addition, your parents must submit Form 3 and proof of income for the penultimate calendar year.
Form 9 may be submitted in place of Form 1 if there have been no changes to your marital status, health insurance, income or assets since the previous approval period and there is no gap in funding.
BAföG also provides support if you are planning a semester abroad or wish to study entirely abroad. Funding is also available for school pupils and for work placements abroad.
You should submit your application for BAföG for study abroad to the relevant BAföG office for study abroad well in advance (at least 6 months beforehand!).
We are responsible if you are planning to study in the following countries:
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bulgaria
Estonia
Georgia
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Latvia
Lithuania
Moldova
Poland
Romania
Russian Federation
Slovakia
Tajikistan
Czech Republic
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
Hungary
Uzbekistan
Belarus
The amount of financial support you receive generally depends primarily on your parents’ income (and, where applicable, your spouse’s). It also depends on your own income and assets.
You can find further information on the BAföG website.
The specific BAföG calculation for each individual case is complex and, in some instances, rather complicated. Furthermore, there are a large number of (special) provisions that cannot be covered in a summary such as this. This makes it all the more important to seek expert personal advice.
You can find the relevant contact persons here.
BAföG is generally awarded for one year – i.e. two semesters or 12 months – by means of a formal decision. Should a shorter or longer approval period (up to a maximum of 15 months) be set in individual cases, there are always legal or administrative reasons for this, such as the expiry of the standard period of study, the date on which proof of academic achievement is submitted, or simply the date on which the application was made.
In all cases, a decision will be issued regarding approval or rejection. Any funding amounts will then be paid monthly in advance.
BAföG funding consists of a 50% grant (a gift from the state!) and a 50% interest-free government loan. Furthermore, the maximum repayment amount is capped at 10,010€. This means you won’t have to repay more than this amount, regardless of how much BAföG you received or for how long. For example, someone who receives the maximum BAföG rate for 5 years will have received around 60,000€ in funding and will still pay back no more than 10,010€ – just over a sixth of the total. This makes BAföG by far the cheapest way to finance your studies.
Repayment usually begins five years after you complete your first degree and is made in convenient monthly instalments of 130€ each.
Please note: You must notify the BVA of any change of address immediately.
You can find further information on repayment at www.bundesverwaltungsamt.de
You can find all the downloads on our downloads page under the BAföG section.
Spouses and both biological parents (step-parents are not included in the calculation) must declare their income from the penultimate calendar year on Form 3 and provide supporting evidence (income tax assessment, pension statements, etc.).
Example:
You are applying for the period from October 2026 to September 2027 → therefore, your parents’ or spouse’s income for the year 2024 must be declared and substantiated.
If your parents’ current income is significantly lower, you can also submit an update application (see point 3).
You can earn up to 7,236.00€ (up to 603€ per month) gross from a part-time job over a 12-month period without any deductions being made from your BAföG.
If your income changes during the approval period compared to what you declared on Form 1, please let us know immediately.
At the end of the grant period, please submit all payslips and other supporting documents for this period to us so that we can review your actual income again.
The usual supporting documents are:
complete notices from the tax office regarding income tax, solidarity surcharge and church tax
electronic payslips, payslips (certificate of earnings)
pension assessment notices, pension payment certificates
benefit certificates from the Jobcentre and health insurance fund, stating the benefit period and the benefit amount
You are eligible for BAföG regardless of your parents’ financial situation if you
start your studies after reaching the age of 30 OR
have been in gainful employment for at least a further three years following an apprenticeship of at least three years’ duration and have been able to support yourself from this employment. If the apprenticeship was shorter than three years, the period of gainful employment must have been correspondingly longer. In total, therefore, you must provide evidence of at least 72 months OR
you have been in gainful employment for a total of at least five years after turning 18 and were able to support yourself from this employment.
Note:
Periods of gainful employment also include periods of military, civilian or alternative service, as well as periods spent running a household whilst simultaneously caring for and raising at least one child under the age of 14.
In the case of gainful employment, this may also have involved several different jobs. These do not need to be jobs subject to social insurance contributions or full-time positions. What is decisive here is rather that the average gross monthly wage amounts to at least 1,026.00€ (= the needs of a student who is not self-insured and does not live with their parents, plus 20 per cent).
As a general rule, students may change their specialisation for the first time by the end of the third semester without having to give a reason.
A change from the fourth semester onwards is only possible under certain conditions.
You should definitely seek advice from us on this matter.
Please note: It is not possible to change your specialisation during the Master’s programme.
In principle, funding is available until the end of the standard duration of your degree programme (see certificate of enrolment). If you do end up taking longer to complete your degree, there are various options available to continue receiving funding.
(A) The simplest option is the so-called ‘flexi-semester’. This allows you to apply for funding for an additional semester without giving a reason. However, this is only possible once during your entire course of study, i.e. either during your Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.
(B) In special circumstances, such as illness, committee work or raising children, financial support may also be granted for a reasonable period beyond the standard duration of study upon application.
(C) For the last two semesters before the expected completion of your studies, should none of the above options apply, the so-called ‘graduation grant’ (Studienabschlussförderung) is also available. This is calculated in the same way as standard BAföG, but is a full loan (interest-free).
You apply for all three of the above options using the same Form 10.
Please always notify us of any changes without delay (e.g. the start or end of training).
It is not necessary to make an entry on Form 3 if siblings are able to support themselves entirely.
Depending on your circumstances, there may be additional allowances available to supplement parents’ income, for example in cases of disability or where grandparents are being cared for. This usually requires a separate application, which must be submitted before the end of the approval period.
If you change universities, you must notify us immediately and submit a new application to the relevant BAföG office.
If you are already looking after your own children under the age of 14, BAföG will provide you with a monthly means-tested supplement of €160 per child. The childcare supplement is paid in addition to the standard BAföG and is a non-repayable grant, so it does not need to be paid back. The condition is that the child lives in your household and that you look after them yourself. You can apply by providing the relevant details during the application process on BAföG-Digital or by submitting Form 4.
If you have to pay for your own health and long-term care insurance – i.e. you are no longer covered under a family policy – you will receive a health and long-term care insurance allowance as part of your BAföG. The key requirement is that you are covered by statutory or private insurance for which you pay contributions.
The requirements are that you are not covered by family insurance (family insurance is usually available up to the age of 25) and that you pay your own contributions to statutory health insurance (GKV = Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung). In most cases, these are students with compulsory insurance (Section 5(1) Nos. 9/10 of the German Social Code, Book V) or those with voluntary statutory insurance. In both cases, your BAföG entitlement is increased by fixed lump sums for health and long-term care insurance. Currently, the health insurance allowance is 102€ and the long-term care insurance allowance is 35€.
Those with private insurance also receive a supplement if the policy meets certain minimum coverage requirements. The amount is based on the statutory flat rates or on the actual contributions (capped).
You can find the relevant certificate, which your health insurance provider completes, in the download section.
In order to continue receiving BAföG funding from the fifth semester onwards, you must provide one-off proof that you have achieved the standard academic performance expected of your degree programme up to that point.
There are two possible dates:
Certificate of academic performance for the 4th semester (achieved by the end of the 4th semester) or
Certificate of academic performance for the 3rd semester (achieved by the end of the 3rd semester).
Submitting this proof during the 4th semester has the advantage that you can submit the certificate along with the rest of your application documents well in advance of the end of the funding period, thereby avoiding any interruption in funding where possible.
In order for us to pay you the higher housing allowance, we need proof that you no longer live with your parents. To this end, we require a copy of your tenancy agreement or a certificate of residence.
However, you do not need to copy every page of the tenancy agreement; just the most important ones (tenants, address, start date, signatures).
As a general rule, you must inform us of any secondary employment and income. Please also see ‘Student income’. Please also see point 13.
If you are undertaking a compulsory work placement, you are generally entitled to financial support, as it forms an integral part of your course.
If, on the other hand, it is a voluntary internship undertaken during your studies, your entitlement depends on whether it is completed during term time or not. If you gain work experience voluntarily during the semester break and further your education through an internship, you retain your entitlement to BAföG. However, if the voluntary internship falls during the lecture period, you may lose your entitlement to funding. To be on the safe side, check with your case officer beforehand.
If you are eligible for funding, the internship remuneration will generally reduce the amount of funding you receive. Whether voluntary or compulsory, if you undertake an internship, you must notify the relevant department and submit a copy of the relevant contract.
Anyone receiving BAföG who does not live with their parents can apply for exemption from the TV licence fee (Rundfunkbeitrag). You will automatically receive the necessary certificate with your notification.
German nationals, as defined by the Basic Law, are entitled to support provided that the other conditions laid down in the law are met.
However, many foreign nationals may also be eligible for funding under certain conditions. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Unfortunately, students who hold a residence permit solely on the basis that they are studying in Germany (usually under Section 16 of the Residence Act) are generally not entitled to BAföG.
The tax identification number is used to identify the taxpayer during the tax assessment process. It ensures that tax returns, notifications and correspondence can always be clearly attributed to the relevant taxpayer.
You only need to provide this information during the application process if you are personally liable for health or long-term care insurance contributions (as is also the case when studying abroad).
The Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) issues the number automatically – if you lose it, you can request a new ID online from them.
If you receive a scholarship from one of the organisations that support gifted students (e.g. the German National Academic Foundation, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, etc.), you will not be eligible for BAföG funding.
As soon as the scholarship has been approved, you must notify us by submitting the letter of approval.
Other scholarships are counted as income, either in full or in part. You must submit the relevant proof.
… this is a one-off payment of 1,000€ for first-year students under the age of 25 who are enrolling at a higher education institution in Germany (in an EU Member State or in Switzerland) for the first time and who were receiving social security benefits prior to the start of their studies, i.e. were part of a household for social security purposes.
Applications must be made exclusively via bafoeg-digital.de. The exact eligibility criteria for applying can be found under ‘Studienstarthilfe’.
If you are planning to take a semester off, you must notify the BAföG office immediately, as you are not entitled to funding whilst on leave. If you fail to inform the office, the money paid for that semester will be reclaimed within a four-week payment period, and you also risk facing administrative proceedings.
However, it is possible to receive BAföG during a semester abroad for which you have taken a leave of absence from your home university, provided the other eligibility criteria are met. During this period of study, you are usually enrolled at a foreign university. Please note, however, the information under point 6 ‘Stays abroad’, in particular the need to submit a separate application to the relevant funding office.
The amount of BAföG funding you receive depends, among other things, on the value of your assets. An allowance of €15,000 is deducted from your assets. Once you reach the age of 30, this allowance increases to €45,000. For married students or those with children, this allowance is increased further.
If your assets exceed these amounts, your entitlement to BAföG is not immediately forfeited. However, the excess amounts will be deducted from your BAföG grant.
If the total value of your assets is less than €10,000 at the time of application, you may submit the declaration for simplified asset assessment or make the relevant declaration on Form 1. In this case, no further proof of assets, such as bank statements, securities account balances, etc., needs to be provided.
If you are required to provide evidence of your assets, please also ensure that your supporting documents are up to date. An application for BAföG funding is only considered complete if the evidence of assets you have submitted, such as bank or securities account statements, is no more than 14 days old from the date of application.
When providing proof of assets and evidence of digital assets/wallets, the account/wallet holder and the date must always be clearly identifiable. Screenshots are not accepted as proof!
For data protection reasons, information may only be disclosed to you personally. Furthermore, only you may submit applications or raise objections. If you wish to authorise a trusted individual to act on your behalf, you must provide us with a written power of attorney.
You can find the relevant form in our downloads section
By submitting a request for a preliminary ruling, you can find out whether you are eligible for financial support. You could submit an application for a preliminary ruling before starting your studies, for example, if you intend to change your field of study but wish to make the change conditional on whether you will continue to receive financial support, or if you wish to find out whether you are eligible for funding for further training after having already completed a previous eligible vocational training course.
Under Section 11(2) of the BAföG, the trainee’s income and assets, as well as the income of their spouse or registered partner and their parents, are to be taken into account in that order when calculating the trainee’s needs for living expenses and training. The difference between the trainee’s needs and the income taken into account is paid out as a training grant.
If the parents or a parent do not pay the calculated amount to be taken into account, or do not pay it in full, Section 36(1) of the BAföG provides for the possibility of applying for advance payments. This also applies if the parents do not provide the necessary information and their amount to be taken into account cannot therefore be determined (Section 36(2) of the BAföG). However, you should first have informed your parents about your studies and asked them to cooperate.
You should definitely seek our advice on this matter.
If you believe your BAföG decision is incorrect, you can lodge an appeal against it. The appeal must be in writing, bear your handwritten signature, and be received by us within one month of the decision being issued (a simple email is not sufficient). You must also state the grounds for your appeal.
Before you lodge an appeal, we recommend that you contact us. This will allow us to clear up any misunderstandings and explain the decision to you again. In most cases, this leads to a quicker resolution of your problem. ;o)
You can apply for domestic BAföG at the Studierendenwerk Chemnitz-Zwickau if you are studying at one of the following universities:
Chemnitz University of Technology
University of Applied Sciences Zwickau
Cooperative State University (all campuses)
You can apply for BAföG for study abroad at the Studierendenwerk Chemnitz-Zwickau if you are planning a period of study abroad in one of the countries listed under ‘Study abroad’.
You can find the BAföG office responsible for other study locations at studierendenwerke.de
You can find your designated case officer here at our office under ‘Contact’.
