Referreport
Hundreds of thousands receive student loans – many would not be able to study without the money from the state. There is always debate about the amount of benefits. Now the Federal Constitutional Court speaks out.
Students have no constitutional right to higher student loans. This was decided by the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe. The right to guarantee a humane minimum subsistence derived from the Basic Law cannot be used to derive a right for poor people entitled to university entrance to state benefits that make studying possible.
The claim to a living wage does not exist if you can take up a job that pays a living wage, it continued – even if studying might then become impossible.
Bafög is a training grant for schoolchildren and students who do not have the resources necessary for their living and their education. Since assets, your own income as well as the income of your parents and possible spouses are taken into account, the actual Bafög amount is always individual. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the number of Bafög recipients nationwide in 2023 was 635,600 people.
Student had sued against the Bafög amount
In this specific case, a master’s student had turned to the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig. She wanted to sue for a higher Bafög amount because she considered the amount of the statutory basic allowance in the period from October 2014 to February 2015 to be unconstitutional. The Leipzig Senate suspended the proceedings and referred the question to the Federal Constitutional Court as to whether the basic flat rate was compatible with the Basic Law during the relevant period. The court now confirmed this.
It further explained: “The objective legal mandate of the social state to promote equal educational and training opportunities does not currently result in any duty of the state to act specifically related to higher education.” At the same time, the highest German court also emphasized that, given the particular importance of social permeability of educational and training paths, the state has a mandate to promote equal educational and training opportunities. (Az. 1 BvL 9/21)
According to the Karlsruhe Senate, without training support, not only the desired training but also the desired profession are regularly denied. Such a distribution of life chances that depends on wealth is contrary to freedom of training and careers, equality and the principle of the welfare state. Therefore, services that enable higher education have considerable weight – but not such that they are permanently indispensable in relation to the other tasks of the welfare state.
No automatic increase
“After this decision it is clear: whether Bafög funding is sufficient for students is a political decision,” explained the chairman of the board of the German Student Union, Matthias Anbuhl. “It must be resolved in parliament and not in court.” The pressure to act remains high, the basic needs for Bafög are lagging behind young people’s maintenance requirements. “Other state benefits such as pensions, housing benefit or citizens’ benefit are automatically increased, but Bafög is not.”
The University Rectors’ Conference (HRK) explained that the decision once again underlines that the Bundestag must use its social policy leeway when it comes to student loans. It is true that no direct entitlement to education-specific social benefits can be derived from the Basic Law. “But if Parliament wants to live up to its own requirements for student loans, this funding must be substantial.”
The amount of the Bafög is always a point of contention in politics. The rate was last increased for the winter semester. The so-called basic needs rate rose by five percent to 475 euros. For students who no longer live at home, the flat rate for housing costs increased to 380 euros. The maximum funding amount rose by 58 euros from 934 euros to 992 euros. First-year students under the age of 25 from poorer households are also entitled to a one-off start-up grant of 1,000 euros.
“Trend change” already initiated?
Even after the most recent increase, the Bafög requirement rate is still far below the basic requirement for citizens’ money, criticized the deputy chairman of the Education and Science Union, Andreas Keller. That is “too little to live and too much to die”. The federal government should not use the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court as an opportunity to “lay on its hands” when it comes to Bafög reform.
Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger emphasized in the ARD program “Report from Berlin” that it was clear to the government: “Bafög is an important building block for educational equality in our country and we will continue to strengthen it.” Every two years, the funding is checked with a view to inflation – and, if necessary, responded to with adjustments or special measures.
The chairman of the education committee in the Bundestag, Kai Gehring (Greens), also defended the traffic light reforms. The government has decided on the biggest increase ever for student loans and has initiated an urgent turnaround. “Taking all of the reform stages of this coalition together, the requirement rates were increased by around 11 percent, the flat-rate housing allowance by almost 17 percent and the allowances by a full 27 percent,” said Gehring – but admitted: A regular increase mechanism, like that with other benefits, is essential and overdue Legal claim has long been common practice.
Source: German