DSW: Strengthen BAföG instead of cutting budget funds

• Deutsches Studierendenwerk (DSW) and non-partisan umbrella organization of student bodies fzs call on traffic light coalition to adhere to coalition agreement
• Budget of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) today in the Budget Committee of the German Bundestag
• BMBF wants to save 440 million euros on student BAföG in 2024
• DSW and fzs: Strengthen and reform BAföG instead of cutting funding for 2024 - Parliament must take bold action
  
  

Berlin, 11 October 2023. Deutsches Studierendenwerk (DSW) and the Free Association of Student* Unions (fzs) appeal to the German government to stop the planned cuts to BAföG in the 2024 budget of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and to finally address the regular increase promised in the coalition agreement and the announced BAföG structural reform. Investment in BAföG must increase massively instead of cutting funding, the two organizations demand.

The need for action is great: According to the 22nd Social Survey, a good third of all students have less than 800 euros a month to make ends meet. So the budget of these students is far from sufficient. They are now dependent on help.

Today, the Budget Committee of the German Bundestag is discussing the BMBF budget; for 2024, budget cuts of 440 million euros are planned for student BAföG alone. DSW and fzs call on the parliament to stop this course. After all, BAföG is a central instrument of educational justice.

fzs board member Niklas Röpke: "Studying means poverty, for many at least - this was already the case before 2021. Since the drastic inflation, especially in food and basic necessities such as electricity and gas, studying has almost become a luxury good. The student welfare benefit BAföG could provide relief, but it reaches far too few students and is not enough to live on. And even previous financial aid from the federal government, such as the €200 one-time payment, will not help students in 2023 and 2024 in the face of high consumer prices. There needs to be a structural solution to the structural problem of student poverty. This begins with the financing of universities, continues with the creation of affordable housing and, last but not least, a real reform of the BAföG must not be blocked.

In the current coalition agreement, a fundamental reform of the BAföG was announced, but we students have been waiting for this ever since. Educational justice and equal opportunities cannot be achieved in this way. Instead, the federal government must actively fight student poverty and the poverty of trainees and students. A second BAföG reform cannot be sat out and must not fall victim to austerity policies - it must be included in the budget!

The currently presented austerity measures in the BAföG pot are unacceptable and cannot be communicated to students in their current economic situation. Still up to the third reading of the budget at the beginning of December the government group has the possibility of correcting this erroneous way of the BMBF!"

DSW board chairman Matthias Anbuhl: "The federal government has promised a BAföG departure. There should be higher support for students, regular increases, and the number of young people receiving support should also rise. A real turnaround, a fundamental BAföG reform would be tackled, it says in the coalition agreement of SPD, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and FDP. Students have relied on this.

The cuts to the BAföG budget that have been planned so far contradict these promises. For 2024, the federal budget, if adopted as planned, would allow neither an increase nor a structural reform of BAföG. The coalition's BAföG promises are in danger of imploding.

The message to students was that they would have to make do with further zero rounds in 2023 and 2024 despite massive increases in the cost of rent, energy and food. The BAföG structural reform is becoming a distant prospect. Students cannot be expected to accept this message.

In many cases, state student funding is no longer sufficient to live on. The rate for basic needs - for food, drink and hygiene - is below the citizen's allowance and the Düsseldorf chart. BAföG provides 452 euros, while the citizen's allowance will provide 563 euros from 2024. Students do not eat, drink and heat less than other people, they are not second-class citizens. That's why we now need a substantial increase in the need rates and allowances. And BAföG must finally be automatically adjusted to rising prices and incomes, just like pensions, housing benefit, or the citizen's allowance."

Contact person for the media at fzs:

Niklas Röpke, +49 157 72532231, niklas.roepke@fzs.de