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

• your studies,
• under certain conditions of a prescribed internship as part of your studies.

In order to receive the monthly grant, you must meet a number of requirements. The most important are:

• Your parents and/or your spouse/life 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 up to EUR 45,000 from the age of 30 or only slightly above.
• You are studying full-time.
• Age limit: 45 years (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 spouse/life partner or you yourself earn a little more.

If you are studying, you will receive half of the funding as a loan and half as a grant. This means that you only have to pay back half of the money regularly after your studies. You do not have to pay any interest on the loan ("interest-free loan"). The maximum repayment amount is generally EUR 10,010, irrespective of the total amount of the grant. This corresponds to 77 monthly installments of EUR 130 each from the start of repayment. The Federal Office of Administration is responsible for collecting the loan. Repayment does not begin until 5 years after the end of the maximum funding period, which usually corresponds to the standard period of study. If you do not earn enough to repay your loan, you can apply to the Federal Office of Administration for a deferment of payment.
If you are studying, your monthly requirements are made up of different parts:

• Basic needs:
  • EUR 452 if you are completing your education at a higher technical college, academy or university (for example at a university).
• Accommodation requirements:
  • EUR 59 if you live with your parents or
  • EUR 360 if you do not live with your parents.
• If you cannot obtain health/nursing care insurance through your parents, you will receive an additional EUR 94 or EUR 28 respectively.
• If you have a child under the age of 14 living in your household, you will also receive a childcare supplement: EUR 160 for each child.

Within the European Union and in Switzerland, studies can be funded from the start until the foreign educational qualification is obtained. For stays abroad outside the EU, BAföG is available for up to one year; in special exceptional cases up to two and a half years. The stay abroad must be completed within a continuous period of time and in one country, unless attending training institutions in several countries is of particular importance for the training.

A compulsory internship abroad can also be funded with BAföG. For this, the internship must last at least twelve weeks if it is completed outside the EU.

For a semester or year abroad or an internship abroad, supplements to travel costs, tuition fees and health insurance abroad can be applied for; for stays abroad outside the EU/Switzerland, purchasing power compensation is also granted. Supplements for verifiably necessary tuition fees abroad do not have to be repaid.

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

• The income of your parents and/or your spouse/life partner in the penultimate year before the start of the approval period, if it is above the allowance. The allowance 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.
  • Note: If your parents or your spouse/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 gainfully employed for five years after reaching the age of 18 or
    • have completed three years of training and then worked for at least three years (in the case of shorter training, longer 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 520.00 per month.
• Your own assets if they exceed EUR 15,000 up to the age of 30 or EUR 45,000 from 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.

You can receive BAföG until the end of the standard period of study. Only in exceptional cases can your BAföG be extended thereafter, for example if you

• have failed the final examination for the first time,
• have a disability,
• are or were pregnant,
• have raised a child up to the age of 14,
• are or have been active in committees and bodies of the university, the student self-administration, the student unions or the federal states provided for by law or the statutes, or
• have cared for close relatives classified in care grade 3 or higher

If you drop out of one degree program and start another ("change of degree program"), your new degree program can only be funded if

• the change took place in the 2nd semester at the latest or
• the change took place in the 3rd semester and there is an important reason for the change or
• the change follows from the 4th semester and there was an unavoidable reason for the change, for example
  • a disability or allergy to certain substances that occurred after the start of the course, which makes it impossible to continue the course or to pursue the profession previously pursued.

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 study regulations or training plan, i.e. that you have to do in order to complete or carry out your studies or training. Compulsory internships completed outside the 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 can also receive BAföG if you complete your entire course of study in another EU country.