Germany: Left and Greens increase pressure on government over BAföG student aid

Germany's Left Party is intensifying pressure on the government to reform the Federal Training Assistance Act, known as BAföG. The party plans to introduce a motion in the Bundestag demanding a substantial increase in student aid and a fundamental restructuring of the program.

“

A BAföG that one can live and study on

Their proposal includes making BAföG a fully non-repayable grant, a system last in place before 1974. Currently, students must repay 50% of their aid, capped at €10,010. The Left Party argues that the BAföG rates must be raised to a "subsistence level" and adjusted annually for inflation. They also call for the housing cost allowance to be converted into a rent subsidy, similar to housing benefit, with regional adjustments based on actual rent increases.

“

More than a third of students are poor, and among those living alone or in a shared apartment, it is even 80 percent.

According to the Left Party's motion, over a third of students in Germany live in poverty, with 80% of those living alone or in shared housing facing financial hardship. The current BAföG housing allowance often fails to cover the cost of a single room in expensive university cities like Munich, Berlin, or Hamburg. Nicole Gohlke, the Left Party's spokesperson for education policy, criticized the government, stating that cutting BAföG is counterproductive to solving broader societal challenges like affordable pensions, healthcare, and the social security system. She emphasized that young people need better support to ensure education remains a pathway to upward mobility.

“

Instead of advocating for the students for whom she is responsible, Minister Bär is stabbing students in the back.