First-year students from low-income households may be eligible for a one-off grant of 1.000 € when they first enrol at a university.
First-year university students from low-income households receiving public assistance can receive a one-off grant of 1,000€ when they first enrol at university to help cover expenses typically associated with starting university (such as IT equipment, teaching and learning materials, as well as security deposits and moving costs). This is intended to help overcome financial barriers to starting university.
To be eligible, you must not have turned 25 by the time you begin your studies and must have received social benefits or been part of a relevant household in the month prior to starting your studies.
Start-of-studies assistance (Studienstarthilfe) —like BAföG benefits in general—can only be granted as part of a full-time programme and only if you are currently enrolling at a university for the first time. However, you may also receive start-of-studies assistance for studies at a foreign university. The application for start-of-studies assistance is also independent of whether an application for BAföG is submitted at the same time or whether you are even eligible for BAföG benefits later on.
Applications for the Start-of-Studies Grant must be submitted exclusively online via the “BAföG Digital” portal. The application for the Start-of-Studies Grant can be submitted until the end of the month following the start of your studies.
You can also find further information on the Study Start Grant on the "BAföG Digital" portal.
If you have any questions or encounter problems whilst applying, please contact your assigned case worker.
Here’s how to use BAföG Digital even without an online ID.
