The federal government does not yet know how the extension of the standard period of study due to Corona will affect students’ needs for student loans. This emerges from the response of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) to a written request from the FDP in the Bundestag.
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“A reliable quantification of the future additional expenditure caused by the increase in the standard period of study is (…) currently not possible,” says the statement by BMBF State Secretary Michael Meister, which is available to SPIEGEL. And it will also take some time before reliable data can be used: The additional student loan requirement can only be “validly quantified in the coming years”.
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All federal states had extended the standard study times at their universities as a result of the corona crisis. Because the Bafög entitlement is linked to the standard period of study, the right to the state financial injection for studying for the students concerned was extended by up to three semesters.
“Federal government is making it too easy for itself”
At the beginning of June, SPIEGEL reported on estimates from an Internet portal, according to which this extension could theoretically result in additional student loans of up to 3.67 billion euros. At that time, the German Student Union had already described the amount as speculation. The BMBF now also writes that the sum mentioned is “incomprehensible” – but does not name any other estimate.
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“The federal government is making it too easy for itself if it just refers to the alleged lack of statistics and the responsibility of the universities,” says Jens Brandenburg, spokesman for studies, vocational training and lifelong learning in the FDP parliamentary group. The lockdown and the closure of the universities would have been extremely stressful for many students. The federal government has shown no awareness of the problem for this difficult situation.
“The federal government is responsible for financing studies independent of social origin,” says Brandenburg, “if the student loans are not regularly enough for an entire degree, the need for reform is obvious.” In this context, the FDP politician referred to the scarce Standard study times, which often could not be adhered to even before Corona.
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Is the standard period of study sufficient?
»Almost two thirds of the students exceed the standard period of study. They don’t do that out of whim, ”says Brandenburg. The lack of Bafög support poses major financial problems for many students in the crucial final phase: “The fact that the Minister of Education does not even recognize this problem is a negligently naive denial of reality.”
Education Minister Anja Karliczek evidently lives in a »parallel universe«. Brandenburg demands the extension of the maximum student loan period to the standard period of study plus two semesters in combination with a permanent adjustment of the standard period of study to the actually required semesters.
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However, BMBF State Secretary Meister is also stepping on the brakes on this point. The fact that the majority of students stay at the university longer than the standard period of study is “naturally not proof that they were all forced to study longer because of the unrealistically low standard period of study,” writes Meister. But try to intensify your own efforts to achieve realistic standard study times.
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