Overview
- Germany had 570,000 monthly BAföG recipients in 2025, a drop of 42,700 recipients or 7 percent from the prior year.
- Federal BAföG spending fell by 4 percent to €3.0 billion, a decline of €118 million compared with the previous year.
- The fall was driven mainly by higher‑education students, whose funded numbers fell by 40,700 (about 8 percent), while funded pupils declined by 2,100 (1.6 percent).
- Average monthly payments rose in 2025 to €682 for students and €552 for pupils, and tens of thousands used new reform tools: 33,700 took a Flexibilitätssemester and 11,600 received the €1,000 Studienstarthilfe.
- From 2024 Destatis now reports monthly BAföG recipients separately from Studienstarthilfe recipients, which changes year‑to‑year comparability and has prompted calls from student advocates for faster implementation of further BAföG increases.