Federal Minister of Education Anja Karliczek is generous (archive)
Photo: Wolfgang Kumm / DPAThe emergency financial aid for students in the corona crisis, originally only planned for June, July and August, will be extended by one month. This was announced by Federal Education Minister Anja Karliczek (CDU). She justified the decision by saying that the summer semester was still running at many universities and that exams would be rescheduled.
"It is important to me that the students can concentrate on their exams in pandemic-related emergencies," said Karliczek. Representatives of student associations have repeatedly criticized in the past weeks and months that the Minister of Education is letting down needy students, and that help is only getting started slowly.
According to the ministry, the student unions responsible for spending the funds have now approved 94,500 emergency aid applications. On average, the recipients were supported with around 430 euros.
In the corona crisis, two options were created for students in financial need: A total of 100 million euros, which do not have to be repaid, are available for those who can prove with bank statements that they are in an emergency, for example because regular payments from jobs are not more have been received.
The state then pays 100 to a maximum of 500 euros per month. The aid had to be requested every month and was originally only to be granted for a maximum of three months. The second pillar of help for particularly needy students is the KfW student loan, which was also available before the crisis, but which is now interest-free from May 2020 to March 2021. According to earlier information from the ministry, it has since been used more.
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