Administrative services A-Z

BAföG is the abbreviation for the Federal Training Assistance Act. BAföG is the colloquial term for the funding you can receive under this law.

As the legal regulations are very complex, you should contact your local education funding office at an early stage.

You receive the "BAföG" grant to finance

• your school attendance or
• under certain conditions, a prescribed internship as part of your school attendance.

In order to receive the monthly grant, you must meet a number of requirements. The most important are
Your parents and/or your wife/husband or partner do not have a higher income.

• You yourself have no or only a low income, for example from a "mini-job".
• Your assets are below the allowance of EUR 15,000 up to the age of 30 or EUR 45,000 from the age of 30 or only slightly above.
• You are aiming to complete your schooling full-time.
• Age limit: 45 years of age (exceptions are possible)

The amount of your BAföG is based on a fixed monthly requirement. Money is deducted from this requirement if your parents, your wife/husband, your partner or you yourself earn a little more.
As a student, you will receive the financial support as a grant. You do not have to pay anything back.

In principle, you can receive BAföG if you want to obtain a vocational qualification or a secondary school leaving certificate. However, if you attend a general education school, this only applies from year 10 onwards and only if you cannot live at home (for example, because you cannot complete the desired qualification nearby).
The monthly requirement for pupils is:

• If you live with your parents:
  • EUR 421 if you are attending a technical college class that requires you to have completed vocational training, an evening grammar school or a college,
  • EUR 262 if you attend a vocational college or a technical college that you can attend without having completed vocational training or
  • EUR 474 if you attend an Abendhauptschule, Berufsaufbauschule, Abendrealschule or Fachoberschule class which you can only attend if you have completed vocational training.
• If you do not live with your parents:
  • A total of EUR 632 if you attend a secondary general school, a vocational school or a specialized upper secondary school that you can attend without having completed vocational training or
  • A total of EUR 736 if you are attending an evening secondary school, vocational college, evening secondary school or technical college that you can only attend if you have completed vocational training.
• If you have a child under the age of 14 living in your household, you will also receive a childcare allowance: EUR 160 for each child.

You can also receive BAföG if you spend a year abroad during your time at school. If you spend a year abroad, you will receive an allowance towards the travel costs for the outward and return journey.

The following amounts are taken into account, i.e. they reduce your BAföG requirement:

• The income of your parents and/or your wife/husband or civil partner in the penultimate year before the start of the approval period, if it is above the allowance. The tax-free amount is:
  • EUR 2,415 if your parents live together,
  • EUR 1,605 per parent if your parents live separately and
  • EUR 1,605 for a possible spouse/partner.
  • A further 50 percent of the parental income calculated in this way - as well as an additional 5 percent for each sibling in non-eligible education - remains exempt from deduction.
  • Note: If your parents or your spouse or partner currently earn significantly less than in the year before last before approval, you can submit an update application.
  • Parent-independent BAföG: Your parents' income is not taken into account if you
    • were employed for five years after reaching the age of 18 or
    • have completed a three-year course of training and have been gainfully employed for at least 3 years afterwards (in the case of a shorter course of training, a correspondingly longer period of gainful employment).
    • In certain exceptional cases, if you are over 30 years old at the start of your training
• Your own income if it is more than EUR 520 per month.
• Your own assets if they exceed EUR 15,000 up to the age of 30 or EUR 45,000 after the age of 30.

Note: The starting point for calculating income is generally the total positive income. In the case of training assistance law, this is the gross income minus the

• income-related expenses,
• social allowance and the
• taxes actually paid, including church tax and solidarity surcharge.

Child benefit that your parents receive for you is not taken into account.

If you attend an evening school or college, you will receive parent-independent BAföG. This means that your parents' income is not taken into account in the calculation.

Interns and trainees:

BAföG can only be used to fund internships that you complete while you are in a course of training that is eligible for funding under BAföG.
Only compulsory internships are eligible for funding. These are internships that are prescribed by your training plan, i.e. that you have to do in order to complete or carry out your training. Compulsory internships that are completed outside the European Union (EU) are only eligible for funding if they last at least 12 weeks. Compulsory internships within EU member states can also be funded if they are shorter than 12 weeks.

• You attend one of the following types of school as a pupil or trainee:
  • Secondary general school and vocational school (including classes of all forms of basic vocational training) from grade 10 if you cannot live with your parents because of your training,
  • Technical and technical secondary school class (without completed vocational training) if you cannot live with your parents,
  • Vocational school class or technical college class (without completed vocational training) if it provides a vocational qualification in a course of at least two years,
  • Fach- and Fachoberschule class (with completed vocational training),
  • Abendhauptschule, Berufsaufbauschule, Abendrealschule, Abendgymnasium and Kolleg or
  • higher technical college or academy that awards a qualification that is not equivalent to a university degree under state law,
  • you attend the school full-time.
  • you are a foreign national and, for example:
    • have a permanent right of residence or a settlement permit,
    • are a citizen of the European Union (EU citizen) and are entitled to freedom of movement under EU law as an employee or self-employed person or are entitled to freedom of movement as the child or spouse of such a EU citizen,
    • have prospects of remaining in Germany, for example a corresponding residence permit for family, humanitarian or political reasons or
    • have already resided in Germany for 5 years or longer before the start of the training and have worked during this time.

Internship:
You will receive BAföG for the internship, provided it is prescribed by the training regulations and lasts at least 12 weeks in the case of an internship outside the EU. Shorter internships can also be funded for stays abroad within the EU.

• Completed application form
• Certificate from the school or training center
• If applicable, copy of the
  • identity card,
  • passport or
  • current residence permit
• If you do not live with your parents: Copy
  • of the tenancy agreement or
  • the registration certificate
• If you are not covered by family insurance: Proof of health and long-term care insurance with legal basis and contribution amount
• If applicable, proof of your own income during the approval period, for example
  • Pay slip, part-time job, work contract,
  • Orphan's pension certificate,
  • Scholarship certificate or
  • Riester pension certificate
• Proof of assets or debts on the date of application, e.g. bank statement
• If you have a car:
  • Estimate of the value, e.g. printout from a website with a comparable offer, and
  • vehicle registration document.

Depending on the case, further documents may be required. Please follow the instructions on the application forms. The BAföG office responsible for you will request any missing documents.

There are no costs.

If you would like to apply for BAföG for your school education online:

• Register with BAföG Digital and create a "simple" user account.
• Fill in the form data fields online using the application wizard and send your data electronically to the relevant office.
• As an alternative to creating a user account with BAföG Digital, you can also register using the online ID function of your ID card.

If you would like to submit the application in paper form:

• Go to the BAföG website and download the application forms that apply to you. Alternatively, you can also pick up the application forms from your local education funding office.
• You can fill in the forms on the computer and print them out or print them out and fill them in by hand. You must enter your name at the end of the application form.
• Attach the necessary supporting documents.
• Send the completed application forms with the supporting documents directly to the Office for Educational Support responsible for you.

The Office for Educational Support will check the documents for completeness. If documents are missing, they will be requested. If the application is complete, it will be checked and the decision will be communicated in a notification.

There is no deadline, but BAföG is only granted from the start of your studies, but at the earliest from the month in which you submit your application. If you submit your application as completely as possible, a decision on your application can usually be made quickly.

Federal Ministry of Education and Research

The offices for educational support established by the districts and independent cities and the student unions of the state of Brandenburg are responsible for the subject matter. They carry out the tasks in accordance with the Federal Training Assistance Act on behalf of the Federal Government.

Territorial jurisdiction is governed by Section 45 (1) and (2) of the Federal Training Assistance Act.

• Territorial jurisdiction

Trainees at evening grammar schools, colleges, colleges and academies: Office for Educational Support of the city or district administration at the location of the training institution

Pupils: Office for Educational Support of the city or district administration at the place of residence of the parents, in exceptional cases at the place of residence of the trainee

• Responsibility finder on the website of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research

• Federal Act on Individual Support for Education (BAföG)

The following information is available:

• Incorrect or incomplete information or failure to report changes may result in fines or criminal prosecution. Unjustly paid amounts can be reclaimed.
• You must notify the Office for Education immediately in writing of any changes in your financial situation or your family and training circumstances. This includes, for example, if your income changes, if you change, drop out or end your education or if your siblings do the same.
• If necessary, the information on income or assets can be checked by comparing data with the relevant authorities.

• Website of BAföG
• Brochure on BAföG on the website of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research
• Website of BAföG
• Brochure on BAföG for pupils on the website of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research
• Publications on the BAföG website

Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)