Bridging aid finally set to be paid out to students

More than six weeks after it was originally announced by Germany’s education ministry, a bridging aid programme has been launched for students facing financial hardship owing to the coronavirus crisis.

As of 16 June, students at German universities can apply for a non-repayable allowance of up to €500 (US$564) a month for the months of June, July and August. Applications are on a monthly basis, and new ones can be submitted should the emergency financial situation carry on.

Bridging aid is available to all students at German universities, regardless of their nationality, age or the number of semesters they have been studying. What counts is that they can supply sufficient proof of the acute pandemic-related emergency situation which they are in, for example the termination of an employment relationship or a self-declaration that their family is no longer providing support and their account balance on the day before submitting the application.

Students with less than €100 in their account will be entitled to €500, whereas those with between €400 and €499 are to receive €100. Anyone above the €499 limit will not be eligible for support.

“We are all more than aware that many students are in urgent need of financial support and have been reckoning with it coming earlier,” Achim Meyer auf der Heyde, secretary general of the Deutsches Studentenwerk (the German National Association for Student Affairs), which is responsible for paying out the allowance.

“But this is an ambitious project. In just a few weeks, we had to develop a completely new online-supported funding procedure for nationwide bridging aid. It is important for us that students can now first of all apply for support for the month of June.

“Since we still have to programme the online portal in parallel, payments are only expected to be made from 25 June onwards.”

Michael Gardner, E-mail: michael.gardner@uw-news.com