Training grant approval

Training assistance under the BAföG enables young people, regardless of their social and economic situation, to complete a school or university education that matches their abilities and interests.

You can receive educational support if you are a pupil or student and cannot otherwise raise the necessary funds for your living expenses and education.

If you want to apply for BAföG to attend a school, you usually have to submit your application to the Office for Educational Assistance in whose district your parents have their permanent residence. The offices for educational support are located at the district administrations and the administrations of the independent cities.

If you wish to apply for BAföG for a course of study, you must submit your application to the Office for Educational Support at the respective university.

If you want to apply for BAföG for an internship, the responsibility depends on whether the internship is related to school or university attendance. The BAföG office responsible for funding school or university education is also responsible for funding the internship.

If you want to apply for BAföG for education abroad (school, university or a related internship), please contact the central international offices for education funding (which vary depending on the destination country).

• Formal application
• School certificate, certificate of enrollment or proof of internship
• Proof of income from parents and, if applicable, spouse or partner
• Tax assessment notice from the calendar year before last
  if no tax assessment notice is available:
  • Printout of the electronic income tax statement from the calendar year before last
  • If applicable, certificate from the relevant tax office on tax-free annual income from the calendar year before last

The responsible office will inform you if further documents are required.

Rhineland-Palatinate offers you the option of completing your application online. All you have to do is print out the forms, sign them and then send them to the relevant office. After completing the application forms, you will receive an overview of the additional documents you need to submit. If any supporting documents are still missing, they will be requested from you by the responsible office.

The required forms are also available from the offices for educational support and can also be printed out from the BMBF website.

General requirements:

• German citizen
• foreign citizen depending on residence status
• maximum 29 or 34 years old, exceptions permitted
• Your own income and assets as well as the income of your parents and, if applicable, your spouse or registered partner are not sufficient to finance your education

You will receive BAföG from the beginning of the month in which you start your training at the earliest, but only once you have submitted an application.

Training assistance is generally granted for a period of twelve months. After this period, you must submit an application for continued funding. To avoid interruptions in payment, you should submit the application for continued funding at least two months before the end of the approval period of the previous application.

There are no fees.

BAföG hotline: +49 800 223-6341 (free of charge)