No more KfW loans through Studierendenwerk

Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) has increased the effective interest rate of its student loan to 9.01 percent as of 1 October 2023. Studierendenwerk Aachen, which has been active as a sales partner for years, views this development extremely critically and has terminated its advisory activities for the KfW development bank as of October. "The student loan can no longer be recommended in good conscience due to the current high interest rates and the resulting rapid over-indebtedness of students," said Marc Delzepich, head of the BAföG Office, explaining the decision. In addition, he said, Studierendenwerk has recently received hardly any requests for loan placement. "This financing has apparently not been attractive to students for quite some time," Delzepich said. He emphasizes that the BAföG Office only advises financing channels that are student-friendly and do not hold any nasty surprises. The Daka loan from Studierendenwerke NRW, for example, is interest-free and has proven to be a good alternative.

Matthias Anbuhl, Chairman of the Board of Deutsches Studierendenwerk, also explains: "The interest rate on student loans from a public-sector development bank is rising to dizzying heights. Students can currently only be advised to exercise the utmost caution with the KfW student loan. Here a debt trap threatens. The interest rate for this loan is twice as high as a real estate loan. This is a real socio-political scandal."
 
This situation will continue to worsen, Anbuhl adds. The social counseling services of the student unions already have to help many young people who are financially overburdened by the loan. BAföG, the centerpiece of state student financing, is too low and reaches too few students, he said. "The Ministry of Education is again planning a zero increase despite inflation. The promised structural reform is also not anchored in the 2024 budget."