Students and professionals

For whom?

We support you, regard­less of your and your parents’ income, if you are 18 – 44 years old and fall under one of the following categories:

• German citizens with a domestic primary residence and their dependents (regardless of nationality) who are living with the German citizen, and are registered in Germany.
• EU citizens who have been lawfully residing in Germany on a permanent basis for at least three years, and are registered in Germany, and their dependents living with the EU citizen in Germany.
• So-called educational residents with a domestic primary residence who obtained a German Higher Education Entrance Qualification by graduating from a high-school in Germany or a German school abroad.

For what?

We finance your living expenses while you are studying. It makes no difference whether you are studying full-time, part-time or while working. Programs at distance learning universities are also possible. We support semesters abroad if you are still enrolled at a German university.

Your university must be located in Germany and be a state or state-accredited university.

We support these courses of study:

• First under­graduate degree
• Second degree (further under­graduate studies)
• Additional, supplementary or post­graduate studies, or
• Master’s (post­graduate studies)

A doctorate can also be financed with the KfW Student Loan.

What kind of promotional funds are available?

You can receive monthly disburse­ments of up to EUR 650 (disburse­ment phase). Once the disburse­ments stop, the loan enters a grace period in which you only pay interest (interest-only phase).

Once this phase ends, repayment of the KfW Student Loan (repayment phase) begins.

The interest rate is adjusted every six months on 01 April and 01 October of each year.

Find detailed information here:
Information Sheet KfW Student Loan(PDF, 140 KB, accessible)

Checklist KfW Student Loan(PDF, 58 KB, non-accessible)

For whom?

For school, college and university students in advanced stages of their education.

For what?

To pay for extraordinary costs such as a study semester abroad after the interim exams, for internships, special working materials or an excursion.

What kind of promotional funds are available?

A promotional loan in monthly instalments of up to EUR 300 for a maximum of 2 years (maximum loan amount EUR 7,200) that offers the following advantages:

• It is complementary to BAföG student support payments (education and training support provided by the Federal Government)
• It is granted regardless of your personal and your parents’ income and assets
• A one-time disbursement of up to EUR 3,600 may be granted for special expenses
• No collateral is required.

Application: with the Federal Administration Office (Bundesverwaltungsamt - BVA)

Identification in accordance with the German Money Laundering Act(PDF, 499 KB, non-accessible)

German website

For whom?

For tradespeople, technicians and other skilled workers undergoing further education to become master tradespeople, master industrial technicians, specialised business administrators or business economists or to earn a comparable qualification.

No age limit applies.

For what?

For your living expenses when you are undergoing full-time professional development, for course fees and examination fees.

What kind of promotional funds are available?

• A monthly allowance composed of a grant and a loan for full-time professional development; the amount takes your income, assets, marital status, number of children etc. into account.
• A grant for course fees and examination fees, a loan can be added where reasonable

Application: with the Amt für Ausbildungsförderung (Education Assistance Office)

German website