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Study start-up aid; application for a degree course

If you need financial support for your expenses at the beginning of your studies, you can apply for a one-off grant under certain conditions.

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Procedure details

Especially at the beginning of their studies, students have to incur a number of expenses. These include, for example

  • Teaching materials,
  • IT equipment or
  • rent deposit when moving to a new city.

The Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG) provides funding for precisely these expenses.

The amount of funding is 1000 EUR. This amount is granted to you as a one-off subsidy. This means that you do not have to repay the amount.

You can use the grant to study at

  • a university in Germany or abroad and
  • at an academy that awards a degree at university level,

receive.

The prerequisite for a grant is that

  • you have not yet reached the age of 25 at the start of your studies and
  • you or your family have received certain social benefits prior to your studies.

You or your family must have received the social benefit in the month before the start of your studies. You must submit the application by the end of the month following the start of your studies.

You can receive start-up aid if

  • you are starting a course of study at a university or equivalent academy,
  • you are studying full-time,
  • you are under the age of 25 when you start your studies,
  • you or your family received the following social benefits in the month before the start of your studies:
    • Citizen's allowance,
    • social assistance,
    • Basic security benefits in old age and in the event of reduced earning capacity,
    • Benefits for subsistence under the law on social compensation,
    • Benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act,
    • receipt of the child supplement by
      • You as a trainee yourself for your own children or
      • your parents for you
    • Receipt of housing benefit, yourself or as a household member,
    • Receipt of a child and youth welfare benefit and parents are not required to contribute to the costs from their income.

  • Required document/s
    • completed application
    • Certificate of enrollment or form 02
    • Proof of receipt of social benefits

You can only apply for study start-up aid online. The procedure is as follows:

  • Register with BAföG Digital and create a BundID user account using
    • the online identification function of your identity card or
    • user name and password.
  • Fill in the form data fields online using the application wizard.
  • Upload the required supporting documents.
  • Send your data electronically to the responsible office.
  • The Office for Educational Support or the office appointed by the state to implement the application will check the documents for completeness. If documents are missing, you will be asked to submit them.
  • If the application is complete, it will be checked and you will be notified of the decision.

There are no costs.

You must submit the application by the end of the month following the start of your studies at the latest, which usually results in a two-month application period: for example, if you start your studies on October 1 of a given year, the deadline is November 30 of the same year.

7 to 14 days

Please note the following:

  • If you provide false or incomplete information or fail to report changes, you may be prosecuted or fined as an administrative offense. Amounts paid in error can be reclaimed.
  • As an applicant, your data on the BAföG Digital portal will be compared with application data already stored in order to prevent multiple applications. For this purpose, the application data defined in more detail in the law will be stored for a period of 3 years.

  • Objection
  • Action before the administrative court

Status: 16.10.2025
Editorially responsible for prodecure description: Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt + Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft und Kunst
Source: Federal Portal
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