Apply for BAföG to attend school or do an internship

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

Since the legal regulations are very complex, you should contact your responsible office for educational support at an early stage.

You will receive BAföG funding to finance

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

In order to receive the monthly subsidy, you must fulfil other requirements in addition to financial need. The most important are

• You are aiming for your school-leaving qualification full-time.
• Age limit at the start of training: 45 years of age (exceptions are possible).

The amount of your BAföG entitlement is based on a fixed monthly requirement. Money is deducted from this requirement if your parents, your wife or husband, your partner or you yourself earn a little more.

As a student, you will usually receive financial support in the form of a grant. You do not have to pay anything back. As a student at a higher technical college, you will receive funding in monthly instalments, half as a grant and half as a loan.

In principle, you can receive BAföG if you want to obtain a vocational qualification as part of a school-based vocational training programme 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 are unable to live at home. This is the case, for example, if you cannot complete the desired qualification in the neighbourhood.

The monthly requirement for pupils is:

• If you live with your parents:
  • EUR 501.00 if you are attending a technical college class that requires you to have completed vocational training, an evening grammar school or a college,
  • EUR 276.00 if you attend a vocational college or a technical college that you can attend without having completed vocational training or
  • EUR 498.00 if you are attending an evening secondary school, vocational college, evening secondary school or specialised upper secondary school, which you can only attend if you have completed vocational training.
• If you do not live with your parents:
  • a total of EUR 666.00 if you are attending a secondary general school, a vocational school or a specialised upper secondary school that you can attend without having completed vocational training, or
  • EUR 775.00 in total if you attend an evening secondary school, vocational college, evening secondary school or specialised upper secondary school that you can only attend if you have completed vocational training
  • a total of EUR 882.00 if you are attending a technical college class that requires you to have completed vocational training, an evening grammar school or a college.
• If you cannot obtain health and long-term care insurance through your parents, you will receive an additional EUR 102.00 or EUR 35.00 respectively.
• If you have a child under the age of 14 living in your household, you will receive an additional childcare allowance of EUR 160.00 for each child.

You can also receive BAföG if you spend a year abroad during your time at school, for example. In the case of a stay abroad, supplements are granted towards the travelling expenses for the outward and return journey.

The following amounts are credited, i.e. they reduce your BAföG requirement:

• The income of your parents and your wife or husband or your partner in the penultimate year before the start of the authorisation period, if it is above the tax-free amount. The tax-free amount is:
  • EUR 2,540 if your parents live together,
  • EUR 1,690 per parent if your parents live separately and
  • EUR 1,690 for your spouse or partner.
  • A further 50 per cent of the parents' income calculated in this way - and an additional 5 per cent for each sibling in non-eligible education - is exempt from deductions
  • In addition, there may be further allowances, for example for other children or other dependants of the above-mentioned persons under civil law.
  • Note: If your parents, your wife or husband or your partner are currently earning significantly less than in the year before last, you can submit an application for an update.
• Your own income if it is more than EUR 556.00 per month. There may also be additional allowances if you have to pay maintenance to other people.
• Your own assets if they exceed EUR 15,000 up to the age of 30 or EUR 45,000 after the age of 30.

BAföG independent of parents: Your parents' income will not be taken into account if you

• have been gainfully employed for 5 years after reaching the age of 18 or
• have completed three years of vocational training and then been employed for at least 3 years. If you have completed a shorter period of training, you must demonstrate a correspondingly longer period of gainful employment.
• are over 30 years old at the start of training.

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

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

• Advertising costs,
• Social lump sum and the
• taxes actually paid, including church tax and solidarity surcharge.

Child benefit that your parents receive for you is not counted.

Interns:

BAföG can only be used to support internships that

• You are completing a training programme that is eligible for funding under BAföG.
• are mandatory internships, i.e. they are prescribed by your training programme so that you can complete your training.
• are mandatory internships and take place within the EU or
• Mandatory internships are those that take place outside the EU and last at least 12 weeks.

You must inform the Office for Educational Support immediately in writing of any changes to your financial situation or your family and educational circumstances. This includes, for example

• if your income changes,
• if you change training programme,
• if you drop out of training,
• when you finish your training or
• if such changes occur in your siblings.

Since February 2023, the city of Kassel has been responsible for training grants. In individual cases, it is possible to arrange a personal counselling appointment in Korbach with the case workers of the city of Kassel. Further information is available here.