Overview
- Federal Research Minister Dorothee Bär said on Sunday that she no longer expects a rapid BAföG reform because the government parliamentary groups no longer support the package.
- The planned measures included a rise in the housing allowance from €380 to €440 and a two-step increase of the BAföG basic need to match basic social security by 2027/28 and the following year.
- Bär cited tight finances and trade-offs with other social spending as the reason the increases are unlikely to pass, noting recent debates over cuts to programs such as Elterngeld and care funding.
- Despite the policy setback, the ministry will continue non-financial work, notably adding an AI-powered chatbot to the bafoeg-digital portal to give anonymous, preliminary BAföG entitlement checks.
- The dispute reflects an intra-coalition split, with Union leaders opposing benefit raises without growth and the stalled reform highlighting the gap between the coalition agreement and current parliamentary support.