Student Loan Situation In Germany
When the laws concerning the university fees were reconstructed by the Constitutional Court of Germany in 2005, diverse loan possibilities have been shaped. Until those days multiple German banks had already invented ideas for academic loans (German: Studentenkredite). Today there are different loans available from both public and private banks and also the KfW.
The “dbStudentenKredit” of the Deutsche Bank can be taken by any student at a German university or college, regardless of the study subject. The maximum age is 30 years. As a prerequisite for the award of a “dbStudentenKredit” the bank requires a detailed study plan. All future courses of study shall be listed up and the main intention regarding the later career plans should be explained. In addition, the bank gets some information about the creditworthiness of the students from the Schufa book that lists up the financial details of every German inhabitant. These two categories of information give the bank a certain amount of security.
In the 1st and 2nd Semester one can get a maximum of 200 euros per month for living expenses and tuition fees. Later on at a further stage of the study one gets up to 800 euros. The interest rate is variable. After a student has finished his studies the interest and the total amount of money that has to be paid back is determined by a new contract. In the first year after the end of study no repayments have to be made. In total the students have 12 years left to repay the loan (Studentenkredit) including the interest to the German bank. But it is also possible to settle the total debt at once.
The Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (Credit Institute for Reconstruction), was founded after the 2nd World War with the aim to finance the reconstruction of the German economy. Since April 2006, the KfW development bank also offers a study loan for all students doing their first degree.
The student loan finances the living expenses and has the aim to increase the total number of graduates and allow especially the students from non-wealthy families to study. But the latter task is actually the job of the BAfOEG, which is a grant to 50 percent, the rest is an interest-free loan. In comparison student loans (Studentenkredite) are more expensive (interest has to be paid for 100 percent of the loan).
Find out more about the student loan (German: Studentenkredit)situation in Germany and visit my blog about Studentenkredit. Various possibilities of student funding in Germany discussed further.
categories: student loans, university, students, loans, finance, education, study, studies, studying