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Federal aids for students

Applications can be submitted again since 20 November 2020.

The federal government's bridging aid is being reinstated. Students can submit applications until the end of the winter semester (31.03.2021).
ATTENTION! THE APPLICATION PROCEDURE IS DIFFERENT IN THE 2ND ROUND!

Applications that are submitted according to the "proven" pattern will be rejected. Please note the following!

The access data (and master data) can still be used, but the certificate of study of the current winter semester 20/21 must be uploaded.

  • Furthermore, it must be justified and proven that there is a pandemic-related emergency. For this purpose, documents or self-declarations must be submitted, which refer to the two previous months and also the current month. The proof of the emergency from the first round is not sufficient! The proof must refer to the previous two months.
  • Reasons can be e.g: Loss of job, unsuccessful applications in the months September / October. Everything must be documented accordingly.
  • If it cannot be proven that the termination in September / October was due to a pandemic, a self-declaration can be submitted instead, which will explain the reason and circumstances of the termination.
  • Anyone who unsuccessfully applied for a job in September / October must provide evidence of at least two applications including rejections. If these documents cannot be provided due to the pandemic, a self-declaration must be submitted with the applications and rejections.
  • As financial proof, the bank statements of the previous month and the current month must be provided. This applies to all accounts whose credit balances can be accessed at short notice.

Please check your documents thoroughly before uploading them:

  • Are the account statements really complete and without gaps (account statements legible, unblackened and without gaps up to the day before the application)?
  • Has the pandemic-related emergency situation been proven by supporting documents and do these documents refer to the last two months? Or is the self-declaration sufficiently and comprehensibly justified (please note the information below)?
  • Is the enrolment certificate the current one of the winter semester 2020/2021?

Notes on submitting an application

If your account balance is over 500 euro at the time of application, you are not eligible for federal aids. Any application will be rejected. 

The application can only be made individually for each month. Only if the pandemic-related emergency persists, a new application can be submitted for another month. The order in which the applications are processed generally depends on the time at which the complete documents are received. Incomplete applications will not be processed.

The application can only be made online. Please use the current version of the internet browser Chrome, Firefox or Opera – or the latest standard browser of mobile devices. If you use Edge as a browser, please upgrade to Edge Chromium from version 83.x. The online application is not supported by Internet Explorer.

This film is only available in German.

Most common reasons for rejection

Thousands of applications were already received. We are processing everything under high pressure!
We therefore ask you to check your documents thoroughly for completeness before you send the application!
Any delay will not only cost us time, but also you and your fellow students.

Subsequent submission of documents is only possible after a corresponding request.
We ask for thoroughness here as well. We only ask once.
If not all documents are submitted after the first request, the application will be rejected.

We ask for your understanding that we cannot give detailed reasons for every rejection.
In the following we will give an overview of the most common reasons for rejection.

  • Account statements do not end as requested on the day before the application, but earlier, for example at the beginning of the month. Reason for rejection: incomplete/ illegible documents.
  • Account statement shows transfers to or from a secondary account, but corresponding documents of the secondary account (also: Paypal) are not submitted. Reason for rejection: incomplete/ illegible documents.
  • Self-declaration indicates that parents can no longer provide support, but account statements still show payments from parents. Reason for refusal: pandemic-related emergency not proven.
  • Self-declaration indicates that parents have not been able to provide support since the spring. Student is unable to provide evidence of his/her own efforts to change the situation (e.g. application initiatives). Reason for refusal: An acute emergency due to the pandemic has not been proven.
  • Reasons/evidence of pandemic emergency are not up to date (they must not be older than two months). A letter of cancellation in March is no longer sufficient. Reason for refusal: Pandemic emergency not identifiable.
  • Inadequate self-declaration for alimony. It must be explained by whom and in what period maintenance was paid and why it was waived or reduced (the current amount of alimony must be indicated here). Reason for refusal: incomplete/ illegible documents.
  • Insufficient self-declaration for termination. It must be explained who the former employer was, how long the employee worked there, reasons for termination, time of termination (last working day), average income and why termination cannot be submitted. Reason for rejection: incomplete/ illegible documents.
  • Insufficient self-declaration of self-employment. It must be explained who former clients were, type and extent of activity, average income and extent of income loss/reduction. Reason for refusal: incomplete/ illegible documents.
  • Insufficient self-declaration of rejected applications. It must be explained to whom the applications were sent, the date of applications and rejections, the planned scope of the job and amount of income and why no applications and rejections can be proven. Reason for rejection: incomplete/ illegible documents.
  • There is no name and IBAN on the bank statement, so the account cannot be clearly assigned. Screenshots are not accepted. Reason for rejection: incomplete/ illegible documents

A note from studierendenWERK BERLIN ...

Students of FU Berlin can still apply for support from the SoliFund at any time: www.stw.berlin/solifund (however, it is not possible to apply for the federal aid at the same time).