Regular BAföG (whilst studying in Germany)

So, you’ve decided to study at Chemnitz University of Technology or the University of Applied Sciences Zwickau and you want to apply for BAföG funding. The Department of Finance & BAföG at Studentenwerk Chemnitz-Zwickau is the right place to contact.

This type of funding is normally granted to German students, but foreign students can also receive BAföG payments if they fulfil certain conditions.

Students who hold a residence permit under §16 of the German Residence Act (“Aufenthaltsgesetz”) are not entitled to BAföG funding.

BAföG funding is available for your first eligible vocational higher education course only (work-based training courses do not count). In certain exceptional cases, however, even after completing a Bachelor’s degree you can receive funding for a Master’s degree if it is build upon a Bachelor’s degree.

How long you can receive funding for depends on the standard period of study (=maximum funding duration) defined in the study regulations, however there are options to extend BAföG funding in certain cases. You can find further information about the amount of funding you can receive per month here.

Students are entitled to receive funding if they are under the age of 30 when they begin their course. For masters courses, this is extended to the age of 35. Again, some exceptions can be made (e.g. if you have spent time raising children), whereby funding is still available even if you exceed these age limits.

You don’t receive BAföG funding automatically, you have to apply for it. See the Application section for more information about the process. If you have any questions, the staff of our Department of Finance & BAföG at Studentenwerk Chemnitz-Zwickau will be more than happy to help and advise you.

For more detailed information about BAföG, please visit the websites of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and German National Association for Student Affairs (“Deutsches Studentenwerk”).

P.S.: Students who receive BAföG funding and do not live with their parents can apply for an exemption from the German Broadcasting Contribution (“Rundfunkbeitrag”).