Student finance & scholarships

The Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG) is designed to ensure that students and pupils can pursue their educational plans regardless of their social and economic background.

All full-time students at the state-recognised HSD Hochschule Döpfer are generally eligible for BAföG and can apply for it. Whether you are granted BAföG and how much you receive each month usually depends on your income and that of your parents, as well as your personal circumstances.

The application for BAföG must be submitted to the Studierendenwerk West:Brandenburg (www.stwwb.de). The Studierendenwerk also decides on the outcome of the application and the monthly payment amount. BAföG is an interest-free loan, of which you only need to repay half. We recommend applying in any case, as almost one in two students is eligible for BAföG. BAföG can also be applied for to fund subsequent full-time master’s studies.

You may be eligible for parent-independent BAföG after completing vocational training and having worked for at least three years in your chosen profession.

Further links:
www.das-neue-bafög.de
www.bafoeg-rechner.de

In some federal states (except Bavaria and Saxony), employees are offered the opportunity to take a leave of absence from work for a certain period (usually up to 5 days per year) in order to take advantage of further education opportunities.

This is referred to as ‘educational leave’ or ‘study leave’. Currently, this is available to HSD students in the federal states of Berlin and Brandenburg.

Other federal states are currently being considered.

Most of our part-time students continue to work alongside their studies – on average, around 70% do so. This often means that their own income can cover all or part of their tuition fees. Those who finance their studies themselves also benefit from tax relief, as part-time study undertaken following the completion of vocational training can be claimed as income-related expenses without restriction. Claiming this so-called ‘second qualification’ on your tax return can therefore result in significant tax refunds. Certificate course participants can also claim the university certificate for tax purposes. Please feel free to discuss this with your tax adviser or the tax office.

Our full-time students, too, often earn their own money alongside their studies and thus gain valuable initial practical experience through part-time work. You will find a wide range of advertised part-time jobs on popular internet portals such as Stepstone, as well as on social media.

For around 30% of our part-time students, employers recognise the value of further education for their staff and support them by covering their tuition fees. Please feel free to ask your employer whether, for example, they might cover some or all of your tuition fees. Our certificate course participants are also often supported by their employers. Here you will find some useful advice and tips.
In addition, HSD offers various forms of cooperation with your employer. 

In principle, all HSD students (and applicants) are eligible to apply for scholarships, as both private and public foundations, political parties and organisations, as well as churches, associations and companies, etc., award scholarships under certain conditions. Different criteria apply to each scholarship. Unlike a loan or credit, a scholarship does not have to be repaid.

It is often mistakenly assumed that scholarships are awarded solely for exceptional academic achievement, such as high grades. For many scholarship providers, it is not only academic performance that counts, but also social, political or religious engagement, special skills and other personal criteria. The awarding of scholarships is the responsibility of various institutions. You can find an overview of different scholarships using the following scholarship search engines:

• mystipendium.de   
• studieren.de
• E-fellows.net
• www.stiftungen.org

Here are some foundations that regularly award scholarships:

• Hanns Seidel Foundation www.hss.de
• Heinrich Böll Foundation www.boell.de
• Friedrich Naumann Foundation www.freiheit.org
• Nassau Central Study Fund (NZF) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nassauischer_Zentralstudienfonds
• Cusanuswerk – Episcopal Scholarship Fund www.cusanuswerk.de
• Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Scholarship Fund www.ELES-studienwerk.de
• Friedrich Ebert Foundation www.fes.de
• Konrad Adenauer Foundation www.kas.de/stipendium
• German Business Foundation www.sdw.org
• Hans Böckler Foundation www.boeckler.de
• German National Academic Foundation www.studienstiftung.de
• Evangelisches Studienwerk e.V. Villigst www.evstudienwerk.de

The Foundation for the Promotion of Gifted Students in Vocational Education (SBB) offers its own further education and career advancement grants specifically for part-time study programmes.

• The SBB’s further education grant
• The SBB career advancement grant

There is a wide range of different student loan schemes available, which differ not only in terms of interest rates but also in their underlying structure and the various eligibility criteria for funding and loan processing. We recommend comparing different options, as the terms and conditions can vary.

Many banks offer student loans with a relatively low interest rate and a long repayment period. You should also speak to your own bank about this.

You can also compare student loans at www.studienkredit.de to find out which loan suits you best.

One student loan frequently used by our full-time and part-time students is the following:

KFW Student Loan

This student loan is specifically tailored to students and can be used for your first and second degree programmes (part-time and full-time). Flexible monthly repayments of between €100 and €650 can be arranged.

Deutsche Bildung

The Deutsche Bildung education fund offers you, whether you are a full-time or part-time student, a comparatively simple and flexible financing option. This is not a traditional loan; instead, repayment is linked to a fixed percentage of your future income and is paid into the fund accordingly.

As long as you are still in your initial training, you are generally entitled to state child benefit until you reach the age of 25. Further information is also available on the website of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.

Once you have completed your HSD Bachelor’s degree, you will receive a 10% discount on the total tuition fees for an HSD Master’s programme.