The Federal Government agrees on changes to BAföG

The Federal Government agreed on a reform of BAföG yesterday. The draft is to be approved by the cabinet next week. The changes will apply from the winter semester 2024/2025 for all students who are entitled to BAföG. What will change?

Allowances
In future, more students will be entitled to BAföG. According to the Federal Ministry, the number of BAföG beneficiaries has risen again for the first time in the last two years, after having fallen continuously since 2012. The decisive factor here was the increase in allowances. These are now to be increased again by five percent for the 2024/25 winter semester in order to safeguard this positive development even if prices and incomes continue to rise. In future, the income of underage siblings who are not in an eligible education will no longer be offset against the increased parental allowance. This should reduce the workload for both applicants and the authorities.

Duration of funding
According to the draft, funded students will in future be able to take advantage of a one-off flexible semester beyond the maximum funding period. This will allow them to rely on BAföG funding and concentrate fully on their thesis, for example, even if they slightly exceed the formal standard period of study.

Change of subject
Sponsored students should be given one semester longer (up to the beginning of the fifth semester) to change their field of study for good cause. The existence of an important reason is to be assumed until the beginning of the fourth semester (instead of the beginning of the third semester as before). This will create more flexibility for students, prevent students from dropping out of their studies and at the same time relieve the administration of the burden of subsequent demands and examinations.

Study start-up aid
Young people from low-income households receiving social benefits are to be given a new study start-up grant to make it easier for them to decide to study at university. The aim is to reduce financial barriers to start university. The study start-up aid is designed as a one-off subsidy of 1,000 euros and supports young people with expenses that are typically associated with starting their studies (e.g. laptop, teaching and learning materials, rent deposit). The study start-up aid can be applied for independently of any subsequent BAföG entitlement and is not offset against BAföG.

What will not change
What will not change as a result of the reform are the BAföG rates. According to the ministry, the Federal Government had already provided considerable improvements in benefits for students and pupils at the beginning of the legislative period in 2022 with the 27th BAföG by increasing the rates of need by almost six percent, the housing cost supplement by almost 11 percent and the parental allowances by almost 21 percent.

The bAföG offices, which are mostly located at the student unions, are calling for far-reaching digitalization measures. Although BAföG applications can now be submitted via the online portal but everything that arrives digitally at the office has to be printed out and stamped and then kept in an analog file. The ministry emphasizes that the Federal Government has completely digitized BAföG: Now the Federal States would still have to introduce the e-file.


Source: BMBF