Bafög Reform Postponed: Higher Rates Not Coming Until Summer Semester 2027
Berlin, 09 July 2026
AI-generated image (z-image via Kie.ai)
Summary
The black-red coalition has agreed on a Bafög reform but is delaying the planned increases by half a year. Instead of the 2026/27 winter semester, the basic requirement and housing cost allowance will only rise in the summer semester of 2027.
Berlin, 09 July 2026
The black-red coalition of CDU/CSU and SPD has agreed on a Bafög reform after lengthy wrangling, but is postponing the increases originally planned for the winter semester by half a year to the summer semester of 2027.
Compromise After Long Wrangling
The benefit increases for Bafög planned for the winter semester are being postponed by half a year. This was announced by the responsible policy experts from the Union and SPD in Berlin. As further reports from these circles indicated, this is the compromise that the black-red coalition factions in the Bundestag agreed on after much back and forth.
The planned Bafög reform is thus being postponed in parts. More money will now only be available in the next summer semester instead of the coming winter semester. At its core, the compromise provides for the housing cost allowance for those who no longer live with their parents to rise from 380 to 440 euros – the increase in the so-called housing cost allowance from 380 to 440 euros for those who no longer live with their parents is therefore not to come until the summer semester of 2027.
The timeline is also shifting for the basic requirement. The Bafög basic requirement for the approximately 610,000 recipients is to rise gradually by 88 euros by 2029 – initially to 503 euros in the winter semester 2027/28, then to 563 euros in the summer semester 2029. This would for the first time reach the level of basic welfare support, as the so-called standard rate there currently stands at 563 euros.
Basic Requirement Rises in Two Stages
The Union faction had previously opposed higher benefits and pointed to the strained budget situation. Union faction leader Jens Spahn (CDU) had said that state benefits such as Bürgergeld, housing allowance, parental allowance, or Bafög could foreseeably not be increased. "Allen ist jetzt klar, dass der weitere Ausbau staatlicher Leistungen nicht losgelöst von der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Lage erfolgen kann. Es ist eine gemeinsame Aufgabe dieser Regierungskoalition, wieder für Wirtschaftswachstum zu sorgen", said the deputy faction leader of the Union, Inge Gräßle.
On the SPD side, the compromise was sold as a success. "Nach intensiven Verhandlungen ist es der Koalition gemeinsam gelungen, alle bereits vereinbarten Leistungsverbesserungen in voller Höhe zu sichern", said the deputy SPD faction leader Wiebke Esdar. Her party colleague Oliver Kaczmarek, research policy spokesperson of the SPD Bundestag faction, emphasized: "Für Studierende bedeutet die Reform mehr Geld, mehr Verlässlichkeit, weniger Bürokratie. Damit stärken wir das Vertrauen in das Bafög als verlässliche Studienfinanzierung."
The opposition sharply criticized the decision. The Greens' budget politician Paula Piechotta accused the federal government of being "notoriously wortbrüchig". "Wer an der Bildung spart, fördert Fachkräftemangel und Arbeitslosigkeit und erweist dem Land einen Bärendienst", she warned. The deputy faction leader of The Left in the Bundestag, Nicole Gohlke, criticized the adjustment to the basic welfare level in almost three years as too late and too low.
Criticism from Opposition and Student Services
The German Student Services (DSW) assessed the result with mixed feelings. DSW Chairman Matthias Anbuhl told the ARD capital studio: "Nach Monaten der Unsicherheit gebe es jetzt zumindest eine Entscheidung" – and called the compromise a "guten und wichtigen Signal". However, he added a "dicken Wermutstropfen": "Durch die Verschiebung der Erhöhung der Wohnkostenpauschale seien die aktuell Studierenden gekniffen."
The delay hits students during a phase of considerable housing cost burdens. According to the Federal Statistical Office, students spend around 53 percent of their income on housing costs. In the overall population, the figure is on average only 25 percent. The average prices for a shared apartment room were most recently 512 euros – with significant regional differences: In Munich it was 800, in Bielefeld or Bochum 375 to 385 euros. These figures come from the Moses Mendelssohn Institute, which regularly collects the data.
The starting position of the reform is precarious. In 2024, the Federal Statistical Office counted approximately 612,800 Bafög recipients – the lowest level since the year 2000. Among the recipients were 483,800 students and 129,000 pupils. 71 percent of them did not live with their parents. The rates have been in effect for two years.
Housing Costs as Central Burden
The amount of individual benefits depends on the parents' income and one's own assets. Bafög is, however, always calculated individually. Together with the housing cost allowance, recipients receive up to 855 euros; those who already pay their own health insurance also receive surcharges. Then the Bafög amounts to a maximum of 992 euros.
In addition to the postponement, the compromise also provides for structural changes. Thus, there should be a reliable and transparent regulation for reviewing and adjusting the funding rates, oriented to the basic welfare level. For further adjustments, i.e. in case the basic welfare rises, there should be a regulation for reviewing and adjusting the funding rates. The income limits, for instance from parents, which are used as the calculation basis for individual Bafög, are to be automatically raised by 1.5 percent annually from summer 2028 and the winter semester 2028/29, according to the SPD.
Structural Changes and Digitalization
In addition, the application process is to be modernized. The application process should also be made easier and further digitalized. It is also planned to abolish the performance certificate from the fifth subject semester in order to reduce the bureaucratic burden. Federal Research Minister Dorothee Bär (CSU), however, no longer expects a quick Bafög reform in this sense.
The federal government wants to have the agreed reform passed by the cabinet in July. Research Minister Bär announced that the decided changes are to be adopted by the federal cabinet at the end of July. The coalition agreement between CDU, CSU, and SPD had originally aimed to raise the housing cost allowance by the coming winter semester and to permanently raise Bafög to the level of basic welfare support. All measures of the coalition agreement are subject to financing reservations.
Historically, Bafög is a central instrument of education policy. The "Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetz" (Bafög) came into force on 1 September 1971. Initially, it was a pure grant without repayment. Since 1990, the basic rule has been: One half is a gift, the other must be repaid. At its introduction, the then responsible federal youth minister Käte Strobel (SPD) said that Bafög was intended to serve "um Bildungsschranken abzubauen".
Historical Context
For background: In total, around 2.9 million people are enrolled in studies in Germany, with approximately 11.5 million pupils. The share of Bafög recipients is thus small relative to the total number of students and pupils. The adopted compromise is indeed picked up in several ZDF programs, such as ZDFheute live on 09.07.2026 from 08:50 and on "Berlin direkt" on 05.07.2026 from 19:10, but in substance it remains a postponement for those affected.
Questions & Answers
When exactly will Bafög rise now?
The housing cost allowance and further increases will, according to the compromise of the coalition factions, only apply from the summer semester 2027 instead of the winter semester 2026/27. The basic requirement rises in two stages to 503 euros in the winter semester 2027/28 and to 563 euros in the summer semester 2029.
How many people receive Bafög today?
In 2024, the Federal Statistical Office counted approximately 612,800 Bafög recipients – the lowest level since the year 2000. Of these, 483,800 were students and 129,000 were pupils.
What does Federal Research Minister Dorothee Bär have to do with the reform?
The CSU politician is Federal Research Minister and has announced that the decided changes are to be adopted by the federal cabinet at the end of July. She also no longer expects a quick comprehensive Bafög reform.
Bafög Reform Postponed: Increases Only from Summer Semester | allfacts360
