Student loans

By applying for a student loan you apply for a sum of money, which will be distributed in regular intervals and must be paid back subsequently with interest. All conditions such as the amount of payment, interest rate and payback period are set in an individual contract.

Other than the German Federal Student Loan Program (BAföG), there are specific loan offers for students. Two of these programs with relatively low interest rates for students are explained here:

KfW-Studienkredit

The KfW’s student loan (German abbreviation for “Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau”) offers a funding opportunity for students during their first academic and continuing academic careers and is independent from the income of the students, or that of their parents (assuming there is no personal insolvency issues). Students can apply to receive a monthly rate starting from 100,- up to 650,- EUR. You can have your individual amount of support calculated at the KfW’s website. For further information and to download application forms please visit:

https://www.kfw.de/inlandsfoerderung/Privatpersonen/Studieren-Qualifizieren/KfW-Studienkredit/index-4.html

Educational loan

In addition to, or as an alternative to the BAföG-loan, there is the educational loan (Ger. “Bildungskredit”), which the German Federal Government initiated. The student loan provides support for students in advanced educational stages. It is of limited duration and of reduced rates of interest.

You can apply online through the Federal Administration Office’s (BVA) website at:

https://www.bva.bund.de/SharedDocs/Aufgaben/EN/E/educational-loan.html