We recommend filling out the application via our new BAföG-Digital portal. This offers numerous advantages. The information is answered in the form of a questionnaire and immediately checked for plausibility and completeness. You are welcome to watch the BMBF video.
You can find a brief overview of all required documents and forms in our "Check List" help tool.
Form 1
Students must fill out Form 1 themselves, as it only contains questions which can be answered based on your own knowledge, such as your address, your parents’ address, your income and assets and further statistical data. If you do not live with your parents or a residence owned by your parents, you will get €325 as a flat-rate supplement for your rent. For this, submit your rental contract or your proof of residence (Meldebescheinigung).
If you are not covered by your parents’ health insurance and instead you have your own health insurance, tell us about this on line 63 and submit a certificate from your health insurer stating that you are not covered by dependents’ co-insurance. Under certain conditions, you can then receive a health and care insurance supplement of €84 or €25. If you are no longer insured under the compulsory student insurance - e.g. because you are older than 29 years or are already studying in the 15th semester - a supplement of up to €155 or €34 is granted for the proven health and care insurance contributions.
It is important that your bank details (IBAN) are entered correctly, because educational support payments are only made by bank transfer. Please take care to enter your bank details correctly and legibly.
When entering information on your own income, you must enter and show evidence of all expected income within the approval period, which is usually one year. Not every euro you earn will automatically reduce your financial support. The annual gross income of unmarried students is not taken into account unless it is over €5,400.
Examples of assets to be disclosed are savings, equity and securities, life insurance, motor vehicles (also motorcycles) and land. Decisions are based on the value at the time your application is made. For single students, assets of up to €8,200 are not included within calculations: assets that exceed this amount are subtracted from your financial support. The subtractions are spread out equally over each month. For a spouse or the registered partner, and for each child of the applicant, the amount of assets excluded from calculations increases by €2,300. In order to avoid unfair hardship, other assets can also be excluded from the calculations (e.g. Riester pension assets or a small owner-occupied apartment). For more information, ask for advice during our consultation sessions. Please note that the information you provide about your assets is reviewed annually by the Federal Tax Office. Please provide accurate information. This saves both you and the Office a great deal of work, stress and, in some cases, substantial trouble. You must specify all the assets held in accounts that bear your name. This also applies if you believe the holdings in question do not belong to you anymore. The legal assessment is performed by the Office for Educational Support.
This information can be omitted for a subsequent application.
Form 2
Form 2 does not need to be submitted if you submit an electronic enrolment certificate on which your university has printed the relevant data. This is called a Certificate per §9 BAföG, and is issued by almost all Berlin universities as standard. You only need to enter your own name and your university’s name on the front page. On the reverse side, in line 42, you must state your subject and the current semester/year of your studies at the time of your application. There is a space at the end of the form which the university uses to confirm your enrolment.
Form 3
Form 3 is for information on the income of your parents, and that of your spouse or registered partner if you have one. In addition, further information on each individual’s personal situation (e.g. on the type of occupation and civil status) is required. This applies especially to other children of your parents. The income from the penultimate calendar year before the start of the approval period (see Point 5) must be proven by submitting the corresponding income tax assessment. This means that for an application for the summer semester 2022 or winter semester 2022/23, income statements for the calendar year 2020 must be submitted.
If you use BAföG-Digital, you can send your parents a link here and they can also fill out the form via BAföG-Digital.
The applicable personal circumstances (civil status, children) of your parents will be those which apply during the approval period.
If the tax office has not yet issued a tax assessment for the relevant calendar year, an employer’s certificate is sufficient for the gross salary and taxes paid. Income of parents who are not employed and receive benefits such as unemployment support or a pension must be proven with (non-notarised) copies of the payment decision letters, e.g. from the Agentur für Arbeit (Employment Agency) or the pension insurer.
If income tax assessment is compulsory – e.g. for a tradesperson, some retirees, certain tax class combinations – and the relevant tax assessment has not yet been completed, the application is decided on the basis of other credible proof of income. This means that educational support funding is provided, with the proviso that it may need to be repaid later. As soon as the tax assessment is submitted to the Office for Educational Support, the application is complete.
Form 4 (if you're a studying parent)
Students with their own children should also fill out Form 4, which can be used to apply for the childcare allowance of 150 euro for each child. For this purpose, the birth certificate of the child or children must be submitted in copy and a declaration must be signed by the other parent.
Form 5
Form 5 and proof of ECTS credits are required if you apply for funding for a fifth semester or higher and you have not provided proof of achievement (Leistungsnachweis).