Our current office hours

Phone office hours in Chemnitz and Zwickau:

Mon: 9:00 - 11:00
Tue: 13:00 - 15:00
Thu: 9:00 - 11:00 and 13:00 - 17:00

Personal office hours in Chemnitz and Zwickau:

To protect against infections, our office hours are currently not openly accessible. Please contact us preferably by phone or e-mail regarding your concerns (Contact Chemnitz & Contact Zwickau). Should you require on-site consultation, please arrange a personal appointment with your case worker in advance.
Documents can be submitted at any time by mail or e-mail (Contact Chemnitz & Contact Zwickau). Please follow the instructions for submitting electronic documents. Of course, you can also drop the documents in the house mailbox on site.
For applications and uploading documents, it is best to use the application platform: www.bafoeg-digital.de

Notes on accessibility and processing time

The timely processing of BAföG applications is currently our highest priority. Due to the increased volume of applications, we ask for your understanding that it is unfortunately not possible to answer individual status inquiries or to confirm the receipt of written documents.


The processing time of your BAföG application depends on very different factors, such as the current application volume, the completeness of the submitted documents, personnel resources in the current Corona situation and, last but not least, the number of personal inquiries and requests from our applicants.

If you have already submitted your BAföG application, we will inform you in writing in any case if further information or documents are required from you. We will also notify you in writing of the decision on your application.

Due to the current volume of applications, the processing time is 8 to 12 weeks from the completeness of the application. In order to ensure that your application is processed quickly, we therefore ask you to refrain from simply asking about the status of your application. For other questions, please contact us during office hours.

 

Corona pandemic: bridging aid for students in financial emergency situations

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is helping students who are demonstrably in a financial or economic emergency situation owing to the corona pandemic with allowances totalling 100 million euros. They are paid out via the student service organisations – the Studierenden- or Studentenwerk (STW).

Online application here: www.ueberbrueckungshilfe-studierende.de

Here you can find the most important questions about bridging assistance for students.

BMBF Bridging Aid Hotline:
Tel.: 0800 26 23 003
Email: ueberbrueckungshilfe-studierende@bmbf.bund.de

Finance: BAföG, scholarships and more

Average student living costs vary greatly depending on where you go to university, the course you study and your personal needs. Each month, you’ll have to pay for rent and utilities, books and equipment, clothes, insurance, food and other personal necessities.

Please note: An increase in BAföG requirement rates was decided in 2019. The next stage of the increase will take effect from the winter semester 2020/2021. You can find out whether you also benefit from this in a discussion with your adviser!

BAföG

If you do not have the financial means to afford your studies either on your own or with the help of your parents, you may apply for financial support in accordance with the Federal Education and Training Assistance Act (“Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetz”, better known as BAföG). Students are legally entitled to apply for BAföG funding under the terms of the Act if they cannot afford their studies in any other way. BAföG is the most affordable way to fund your time at university as within a standard period of study (“Regelstudienzeit”), half of the money you are awarded is provided as an interest-free loan and the other half as a grant, i.e. you don’t have to pay it back!

Even if you are not sure whether you are entitled to funding, it’s definitely worth applying or to visit us beforehand for personal consultation!

Other sources of financing

There are a number of different ways of getting a regular income as a student, such as a part-time job, a scholarship, or a loan. A Studentenwerk social loan can help students to get through a difficult financial situation that was caused through no fault of one’s own.

In exceptional circumstances, students can apply for social benefits, such as housing benefit and unemployment benefit type II (Hartz IV).

Special student discounts can also help to lower your living costs. Exemption from or reimbursement of your semester fees, the payment of your own child benefit and the exemption from the German Broadcast Contribution are just a few of the options available.

Please contact us if you require any advice.

 

Online application

young woman sitting at the laptop

Questions about further financing possibilities?

Feel free to contact our social advisers in Chemnitz and Zwickau.