BAföG rises in two steps — 440 euros for rent from summer 2027, basic rate to 563 euros by 2029
The cabinet in Berlin approved a BAföG reform on Wednesday, and the first change students will feel is the rent money. The housing allowance for anyone who has moved out of their parents' home goes from 380 euros to 440 euros a month, starting with the summer semester of 2027.
The basic rate rises after that, in two steps. It stands at 475 euros a month today, goes to 503 euros for the winter semester of 2027/28, and reaches 563 euros for the summer semester of 2029 — the current level of basic income support. Rates for school pupils and apprentices on BAföG are being lifted in the same way. From the 2028 school year and winter semester, the income allowances that decide whether you qualify at all rise by 1.5 percent every year, and the supplements for health and long-term care insurance are being adjusted upward too. The government has set aside around 137 million euros extra for 2027, rising to about 355 million by 2030.
Some of the paperwork is going. Applications are meant to move entirely to the national BAföG Digital portal, which the government says will check your application for completeness as you fill it in and let case workers take the data straight through. The certificate of academic progress currently required from the fifth semester is being dropped, along with the exception rules around the age limit.
None of this is money you can claim yet. The bill goes to the Bundestag and the Bundesrat in the autumn, and the first increase only arrives in the summer semester of 2027. The higher housing allowance had originally been promised for the coming winter semester; the coalition spent months unable to agree how to pay for it, and the timetable slipped.
Two things are worth checking in the meantime if you are starting a course now. BAföG Digital already accepts applications in several federal states. And the Studienstarthilfe — a one-off 1,000 euros for students under 25 who receive social benefits — sits outside this reform and is available already.