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Financing a degree course in the Federal Republic of Germany

Students with disabilities and chronic diseases not only have to ensure that they have enough financial resources to cover their living expenses, just like their other fellow students, but also have to organise payment for nursing care services, medical care, barrier-free accommodation, technical aids and personal assistants.
Unlike other countries, the range of resources offered for disabled students at German universities is usually quite limited. In addition, various social funding agencies are responsible for financing the individual additional expenditure caused by the disabilities if the available personal resources are not sufficient. With but few exceptions, however, foreign students are not entitled to this.

1. Main sources of finance to cover general living expenses

Personal resources
Just like in the case of German students, foreign students first draw on their personal financial resources or maintenance payments made by their family abroad.

Scholarships
There are many scholarships which students from abroad can use to study in Germany. Besides scholarships from the home country, the DAAD, various German or international foundations and organisations, and the German federal states ("Länder") also provide scholarships and/or support. Unlike other countries, however, German universities do not generally award scholarships.

Additional expenditure incurred through a disability is usually not accounted for when designing scholarships. In the past, however, it was sometimes possible to arrange the assumption of some of these additional costs.

Students who want to carry out a study visit in the EU under the Socrates/Erasmus programme are on better terms. In such cases, funds are available to finance any additional education-related and non-education-related expenditure incurred through the disability that cannot be covered by other sources of financing. Please note, however, that only students from the EU or EEA can benefit from this.

www.bildungsserver.de/zeigen.html?seite=2416 - Various search engines for scholarships for German students
http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/socrates/erasmus/form.pdf - Support for disabled students by Erasmus and Leonardo

Working
Many foreign and domestic students have to work while studying. If foreign students who are not from the EU/EEA hold a residence permit for study purposes, they can only work for a limited period of time each year: 90 full days or 180 half-days. Student secondary or temporary jobs universities or other academic or research institutions are possible without these time restrictions. This also applies to activities outside the university if they serve the student's education and are related to the student's academic subject or setting (cf. Federal Employment Agency Implementation Regulations on the Residence Act. Once the studies have been completed - and the graduate is searching for an "appropriate" workplace" - this option no longer exists in this form.

www.fluechtlingsinfo-berlin.de/fr/gesetzgebung/DA_Arbeitserlaubnis.pdf - Implementation Regulations on the Residence Act

Child benefit/education allowance
Student parents not from the EU, Switzerland, Turkey or an EEA country and who claim child benefit or an education allowance usually require a residence permit that has been issued independently of the degree course.
Foreign students can usually only claim child benefit for themselves if their parents also live in Germany.

2. Sources of financing to cover general living expenses under special conditions

Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG)
Besides German nationals, only a few privileged groups of foreigners are entitled to BAföG. These include:

Recognised convention refugees

Persons who have been granted asylum

Recognised homeless foreigners

Jewish immigrants

Foreigners with at least one German parent or with a German spouse

Foreigners who have a right of residence as a child or spouse of an EU citizen living in Germany

EU citizens who were working in Germany in a profession that is related to the degree course before commencing their studies

Foreigners who have worked in Germany for at least 5 years or where a parent has worked in Germany for at least 3 years within the last six years

For information on the respective conditions, please refer to Section 8 of the BAföG Act and the corresponding administrative regulations. More information can be obtained from the Training Assistance Offices.
www.bafoeg-rechner.de , Key word: "Gesetzestext"

Student loan
All students who are near to completing their studies and who are generally entitled to a student loan (see section on BAföG), but who do not receive BAföG, can apply for a low-interest loan from the Federal Administrative Office ("Bundesverwaltungsamt") up to the end of their 12th study semester (maximum: € 7,200.-) to bridge financial difficulties at the end of their studies. After the end of the 12th study semester, the student loan can only be granted to students at universities if they have been admitted to the final exam and the examination office has confirmed that they will complete their education within the training assistance term.

Foreigners who are not entitled to BAföG due to their foreign status can receive the student loan if they were resident in Germany and lawfully worked here for a total of five years before starting this part of their education. The same applies if one parent has been in Germany and working lawfully for a total of three years over the past six years, of if his or her period of employment was shorter due to reasons beyond his or her responsibility, but lasted at least six months.
www.bildungskredit.de/

3. Support in the event of exceptional hardship

State social benefits only in exceptional cases
As described above, foreign students who come to Germany to complete a study visit generally have to prove as part of their entry formalities that they have sufficient financial resources to be able to fund their living costs and any costs of education for a period of at least one year. This is to ensure that they will not have to take recourse to German social benefits. This applies to students from countries outside the EU/EEA as well as to most EU citizens. Only if the student or a family member is working in Germany (Sections 2 and 4 of the Act on the General Freedom of Movement of EU Citizens) is this proof not required.

If students should fall into an exceptional emergency situation where they urgently require support to finance their current living costs or are dependent on help with their nursing care, illness or pregnancy, then foreigners generally are entitled to social benefits in accordance with the German Social Code Book II and Book XII (Section 23 Social Code Book II and Sections 7 and 8 Social Code Book II).

A case of exceptional hardship would apply in the event of severe, untypical circumstances which, as far as possible, are not the applicant's fault and which have caused or will cause a severe state of emergency.

The benefits which German and foreign students are entitled to in such a case are very limited, however. Apart from a few exceptions, financial assistance is granted as a loan, which means the borrowed money has to be repaid. Only in exceptional cases, which means if the student is generally not able to work for at least three hours under usual circumstances due to illness or disability, can support also possibly be paid as an grant.

! Before applying, however, foreign students should definitely remember that claiming such social benefits (according to SGB II and SGB XII) can result in problems with the extension of their residence permit. Claiming social benefits can also justify an deportation order (Section 5, Sub-section 1 and Section 58 of the Residence Act). Foreigners with a right of residence issued irrespectively of the degree course are usually not subject to this ruling.!

Persons who travel to Germany to claim social security benefits are generally not entitled to social benefits (Section 23 Sub-Section 3 of the Social Code, Book XII).

Hardship fund
Studentenwerke and university church groups often maintain support funds from which German and foreign students in emergency situations can be supported for a limited period of time. However, the financial resources are limited. More information can be obtained from the social advice centres of the Studentenwerke.

4. Financing additional expenditure incurred through disability
Students with disabilities often require personal assistance, special accommodation and/or technical aids. Without this, studying is impossible or extremely difficult. These additional costs are referred to as additional expenditure due to disability. Furthermore, a distinction is made between study-related and non-study-related additional expenditure.

Unfortunately, the additional costs that arise are not financed from a "single source". In certain circumstances, German students with disabilities and chronic diseases can take advantage of social benefits to finance their disability-based additional expenditure, covering degree course as well as general living expenses.

The benefit entitlement for foreign students is quite limited in this case and depends on the country of origin and the residence status.

Foreign students who may be entitled to support:

Students from member states of the EU or the EEA or from Switzerland have equal status with German students with regard to claiming social benefits if they or a family member are working in Germany (Section 8, Sub-Section 2 Ordinance/EEA - 1612/68) or if they have worked and there is a relation between their respective degree course and their professional activity: ECJ ruling (EuGH FamRZ 1988, p. 885).

Refugees recognised by the Federal Republic of Germany, recognised persons who have been granted asylum, and contingent refugees who are studying in Germany have the same rights as Germans with regard to social security, and are, under certain circumstances, entitled to claim payments to finance additional expenditure incurred through their disability during their degree course.

Foreign students who are excluded from making a claim:

Claims to such social benefits are ruled out for asylum seekers entitled to benefits in accordance with Section 1 of the Act on Benefits for Asylum Seekers (Section 23 Sub-Section 2 Social Code Book XII / Section 7 Sub-Section 1 Social Code Book II).

Foreigners with a limited right of residence can generally not claim social benefits for additional requirement incurred through disability (according to the Social Code Book II and Social Code Book XII), except for help with illnesses, nursing care and during pregnancy and maternity. This can also lead to problems with the extension of the residence permit.

The entitlement restrictions do not apply to foreigners who have a limited right of residence (or a permanent right of residence) and who will probably permanently reside within the federal territory of Germany (Section 23 Sub-section 1 Social Code Book XII).

Furthermore, social benefits can be paid when justified in individual case.

5. Financing nursing care

Payments by the nursing care insurance
Only insured persons who can provide proof of 5 years' membership of the nursing care insurance (Section 33 of Social Code Book XI) are entitled to its payments. Periods insured under the "family insurance" scheme are also counted so that periods under which children were previously insured under the family insurance are regarded as meeting the requirement if these are met by one parent (Section 33 Sub-Section 2 Social Code Book XI). Most foreign students are not entitled to the corresponding payments as they do not meet the above-mentioned criteria - even if they are themselves liable to pay contributions towards nursing care insurance.

State care and benefits for the blind
Besides this - and independently of the nursing care insurance - the federal states ("Länder") pay state benefits for the blind (Landesblindengeld) or state care benefits (Landespflegegeld) to compensate additional expenditures caused by the disability. The criteria for such benefits are regulated by the respective state legislations and may differ from state to state.

Not everybody with a disability is entitled to these monies. State benefits for the blind can only be received by blind persons and applicants with severely impaired eyesight. Only very few federal states pay state care benefits to which persons with other disabilities are also entitled. Additional regulations and state laws regulate who is entitled to such a claim.

In order to exercise such claims, however, certain conditions first have to be met with regard to the visit. This is usually proof of an address and of "regular abode" within the federal state in which the application is submitted.

In order to be able to claim state care benefits or state benefits for the blind as a foreign student, it is necessary to prove the disability covered by the law actually exists and that the residential legal status is also relevant. In general, it must be possible to identify that the applicant will permanently reside in Germany and the respective federal state. Information on which documents are required to prove this must be requested from the respective federal state.

However, some federal states are reviewing whether to reduce payments based on the state care acts or to abolish them entirely.

www.dbsv.org/blindengeld/Download/Landesblindengeld f%FCr Zivilblinde.doc - Overview of benefits for the blind paid by federal states

6. Statutory health insurance services and benefits for foreign students with disabilities
The services and benefits provided by the statutory health insurance include medical and dental treatment as well as financing aids for insured persons with disabilities and chronic diseases.

The statutory health insurance will only pay for certain aids. These have to contribute to securing the success of the treatment, or prevent or balance out an impending treatment. They include hearing aids, artificial limbs as well as orthopaedic and technical aids, etc. The payment of aids that can be regarded as everyday utilities, however, is not covered by the statutory health insurance. Furthermore, the insurance does not pay for aids that are required due to the disability and may be necessary for studying, but are irrelevant to the physical rehabilitation process. It is obvious that it often may be difficult to clearly identify responsibilities in individual cases.

The costs of approved aids are either paid as a fixed sum or, if no fixed amount is agreed, then up to the amount of the contractually agreed prices. The health insurance agencies also pay for necessary alterations and replacements as well as for training on how to use the aids.