Partial remission of the education grant

Approximately four and a half years after the end of the maximum funding period (in case of doubt, the standard period of study), you will receive a notice of assessment and repayment from the Federal Office of Administration, which, among other things, determines the amount of your loan debt and repayment modalities.

In order to obtain a partial waiver of your BAföG loan, you must submit an application to the Federal Office of Administration. Please submit your application informally or preferably using the online form referred to in the "Forms" module. The application must be received by the Federal Office of Administration within one month of notification of the assessment and repayment notice.

Once your application has been reviewed, you will receive a decision from the Federal Office of Administration either rejecting your application or granting you partial remission. If you are granted partial remission, you can see the amount of the remission and the new repayment plan in the notification.

Please contact the Federal Office of Administration.

Part of your BAföG loan will be waived if you have completed your studies particularly well (performance-based partial remission) or particularly quickly (partial remission based on the duration of studies).

Performance-based partial remission (§ 18b para. 2 BAföG):

1. You have passed your final examination by 31.12.2012 at a training institution located in Germany.
2. According to the result of the final examination, you are among the top 30% of all graduates who completed this examination in the same calendar year. (The Federal Office of Administration will determine whether this is the case for you).

If these conditions are met, you will receive a waiver on your BAföG loan

1. 25% if you have passed the final examination within the maximum funding period,
2. 20% if you pass the final examination within 6 months of the end of the maximum funding period, or
3. 15% if you pass the final examination within 12 months of the end of the maximum funding period.

The maximum funding period is determined by the Federal Office of Administration in the notice of assessment and repayment, which you will receive approximately four and a half years after the end of the maximum funding period. The maximum funding period generally corresponds to the standard period of study.

Performance-based partial remission (§ 18b Para. 2 BAföG) for graduates of an academy:

If you have obtained your degree at an academy, the same conditions apply to you as for the performance-based partial remission according to § 18b para. 2 BAföG. If these conditions are met, 20% of your BAföG loan will be waived regardless of when you pass your final examination.

Partial remission depending on length of study (§ 18b para. 3 BAföG)

If you have passed your final examination by 31.12.2012, you will receive

• EUR 2,560 will be waived if you passed your final examination at least four months before the end of the maximum funding period,
• EUR 1,025 will be waived if you passed your final examination at least two months before the end of the maximum funding period.

Partial remission depending on the duration of studies with a minimum training period (§ 18b Para. 4 BAföG)

1. If you passed your final examination by 31.12.2012 and
2. there was a minimum training period for your training,

you will receive

1. a waiver in the amount of EUR 2,560 if

• you completed your training at the end of the minimum training period and
• there are less than four months between the end of the minimum training period and the end of the maximum funding period,

2. a waiver in the amount of EUR 1,025 if

• you have completed your training no later than two months after the minimum training period and
• there are less than four months between the end of the minimum training period and the end of the maximum funding period.

A minimum training period is the time specified for some training courses before the end of which the training cannot be completed by a final examination or otherwise as planned (§ 18b Para. 5 BAföG).

• You will need a simple copy of your degree certificate for your application.
• If the date of the last part of the examination is not shown on your degree certificate, please submit a certificate from the relevant examination office confirming this date.
• If you have successfully completed two funded degree programs (e.g. Bachelor's and Master's), you must submit copies of certificates for both.
• If there was a minimum training period for your course, which is important for your application, you will also need a copy of the relevant study and examination regulations.
• If you have completed a degree in human medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or pharmacy, a simple copy of your degree certificate is sufficient in all cases.

none

An application for partial remission must be received by the Federal Office of Administration within one month of notification of the assessment and repayment notice.

• Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG)

You can submit your application informally by letter or telephone or preferably using an online form. The online form allows you to upload the documents required for the application directly and send them to the Federal Office of Administration together with the completed application.

The table shows you the different functions of the BAföG-online portal. You can use different functions depending on whether you log in with an e-mail and password or with the new ID card and the online ID function (eID).

• Federal Office of Administration: BAföG-online

In addition to the partial remission or, if applicable, at a later date, you can also take advantage of the discount that is granted to you if you repay your remaining loan debt early.

The application for partial remission of the BAföG loan does not postpone the payment date for the early repayment offer listed in the notice of assessment and repayment. Therefore, if you have not received a decision on your application from the Federal Office of Administration by the due date of the first installment and you would also like to receive a discount for early repayment, it is advisable to pay the deposit amount stated in the notice in order to secure the highest possible discount. Any overpayments will be refunded by the Federal Office of Administration to the account you provided if the decision on the partial remission application is positive.

06.02.2017