The automatic adjustment of income allowances, the alignment of BAföG’s basic allowance with the basic income support rate, and the planned administrative simplifications are important advances. In particular, abolishing the academic progress certificate after the fourth semester and introducing the planned digital-only application process would significantly reduce the burden on students, higher education institutions and the BAföG offices run by the student services organisations.
We believe the timeline for fully aligning BAföG’s basic allowance with the subsistence minimum needs to be improved. Aiming to achieve this only in 2029 is not ambitious enough. Students need adequate financial support now, not only at the end of the legislative term—and then at the 2024 level.
We also have one continuing criticism: raising the housing allowance to €440 only from the summer semester of 2027 comes too late and falls short of actual rents. According to the latest study by the Moses Mendelssohn Institute, the average rent for a room in a shared flat on the private housing market is €510 per month.
My appeal to members of the Bundestag is therefore this: make sure the planned improvements are implemented, and use the parliamentary process to make further changes, particularly to the administration of BAföG. It would help considerably if grants were approved for the entire duration of a student’s course, and if BAföG offices could obtain parents’ proof of income directly from the tax authorities.”
German National Association for Student Affairs statement on the BMFTR draft bill for the 30th BAföG Amendment:
www.studierendenwerke.de/aktuelles/stellungnahmen/stellungnahme/stellungnahme-zum-entwurf-eines-dreissigsten-gesetzes-zur-aenderung-des-bundesausbildungsfoerderungsgesetzes-30-bafoegaendg