BAföG Reforms 2016: New Rules and Many New Perks for Applicants

BAföG is a stipendium offered by government to students studying in Germany, of course it is not open to everyone. Check who is illegible here. (READ: Bafög Eligibility). The German BAföG is similar to the Kenyan HELB, however, BAföG can only be used at a public university.

In August this year, BAföG reforms came into effect. Wondering what those new reforms are? Here they are:

• The advance payment (Abschlagszahlung) paid out to applicants whose application takes longer than 10 weeks before a response is given, has been increased to 80% of the entitled sponsorship from the initial standardized €360.
• For the Bachelor graduates applying for a Masters, an admission to a Masters program will now be enough to continue receiving BAföG after graduation and before the program begins. Applicants however need to start their masters program within the first year after graduation.
• If the study program requires that a student undertakes some form of official examination (not the usual CATs or end of semester tests) before the third semester, then it was required that the student sends the results of such an exam to the BAföG-amt. This will no longer be required.

So that’s the technical part, here’s what you need to know about the money:

BAföG-Sponsorships for students	in Deutschland bzw. innerhalb der EU
	living away from the parents		living with the parents
	current	from Fall 2016	current	from Fall 2016
Basic needs	373 Euro	399 Euro	373 Euro	399 Euro
Accomodation	224 Euro	250 Euro	49 Euro	52 Euro
Extras:
Health Insurance	62 Euro	71 Euro	62 Euro	71 Euro
Pflegeversicherung	11 Euro	15 Euro	11 Euro	15 Euro
Maximum Sponsorship	670 Euro	735 Euro	495 Euro	537 Euro

For students who have kids, the amount paid per child is set at €130, this is an increase from the current pay that stands at €85 for the first child and €113 for every other child.