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Students in the library of the Humboldt University in Berlin
Photo: Christophe Gateau / picture alliance / dpa
Those who study part-time can be entitled to Hartz IV, but not to student loans.
This emerges from a decision by the Hessian Regional Social Court in Darmstadt, which was published on Tuesday.
This was preceded by a lawsuit from a man suffering from epilepsy and therefore not studying full-time.
The student's student loan application was rejected because he had changed subject in between.
He then applied for unemployment benefit II, which the job center initially did not approve.
The student went to court - this has now sentenced the job center to pay him unemployment benefits.
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Part-time studies could not be funded by student loans, it was said to justify, because it does not fully utilize the student's workforce.
In such cases, Hartz IV is therefore not excluded.
So far, students have not been entitled to Hartz IV because they are not available for the job market - their main occupation is studying.
In order to receive benefits, they had to take a leave of absence from their studies, but then they could not continue studying.
Even if students lost their part-time job and therefore no longer had enough money to cover their livelihoods, they could only ask the Bafög office for a recalculation or submit an initial application for student loans.
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sem / AFP