Apply for BAföG to attend school

Source: BUS Rheinland-Pfalz

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 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 grant, you must meet other requirements in addition to financial need. The most important are

You are aiming to complete your schooling full-time.
Age limit at the start of training: 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 or husband, your partner or you yourself earn a little more.

As a student, you usually receive the financial support as a grant. You do not have to pay anything back. As a student at a higher technical college, you will receive funding in monthly installments, 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 school-based vocational training or a secondary school leaving certificate. However, if you are attending a general 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 nearby.

The monthly requirement for pupils is:

If you live with your parents:
- EUR 442 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 if you attend a vocational college or a technical college that you can attend without having completed vocational training or
- EUR 498 if you attend an evening secondary school, vocational college, evening secondary school or specialized secondary school that you can only attend if you have completed vocational training.
If you do not live with your parents:
- EUR 666 in total 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 775 if you attend an evening secondary school, vocational college, evening secondary school or specialized upper secondary school 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 of EUR 160 for each child.

You can also receive BAföG if you spend a year abroad during your time at school, for example. If you spend a year abroad, you will receive an allowance for 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 your wife or husband or your partner in the penultimate year before the start of the approval period, if it is above the allowance. The tax-free amount is:
- EUR 2,540 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 percent of the parental income calculated in this way - and an additional 5 percent 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 currently earn significantly less than in the year before last before approval, you can submit an update application.
Your own income if it is more than EUR 556 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 from the age of 30.

Parent-independent BAföG: Your parents' income is not taken into account if you

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

If you attend an evening grammar school or college, you will receive BAföG independent of your parents. 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 sum of positive income. In the case of training assistance law, this is the gross income for employed persons 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.

Interns and trainees:

BAföG can only be used to support internships that

you complete while you are in training that is eligible for funding under BAföG.
Compulsory internships are internships that are prescribed by your training plan so that you can complete your training.
are compulsory internships and take place within the EU or
are compulsory internships that take place outside the EU and last at least 12 weeks.

You must notify the Office for Vocational Training immediately in writing of any changes to your financial situation or your family and training circumstances. This includes, for example

if your income changes,
if you change your training,
if you break off your training,
if you end your training or
if such changes occur with your siblings.

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

Open the BAföG Digital website and create a BundID user account.
Complete the form data fields online using the application wizard and send your data electronically to the relevant office.

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

Go to the BAföG Digital website and download the application forms (Formblätter) that apply to you. Alternatively, you can also pick up the applications 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 notified by post.

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- und Fachoberschuleklasse (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 German or German or
You are from abroad and:
- have a permanent right of residence or a settlement permit,
- are a citizen of the EU 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 a family member of such a citizen of the EU,
- 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 starting the training and have worked during this time.
Internship:
You will receive BAföG for the internship, provided this 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
Certificate from the school or training center (Form 02)
Copy of the current
- current residence permit
if you do not live with your parents:
- Copy of the registration certificate or
- Copy of the tenancy agreement, if requested by the Office for Educational Support
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
- payslip from a part-time job or a copy of the 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 the value of the assets of trainees does not exceed the amount of EUR 10,000, the form "Vereinfachte Vermögensfeststellung" can be attached.
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.

Apply for BAföG to attend school

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Requirements

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