Funding Your Studies
The information on this page primarily reflects opportunities available to students with German citizenship; not all of it applies to international students.
We are currently working on a page with information specifically for international students.
Most students finance their studies through a combination of financial support from their parents, part-time jobs, and BAföG. BAföG can be your starting point, so we’ve compiled the most important information. Feel free to try out the BAföG calculator together with your parents.
Feel free to stop by our office hours if you have any questions. You can find an overview of other funding options here.
Child Support—How Much You Can Get and How to Get It
During your initial education, your parents are required to pay child support. According to BAföG, every student has a need of €855 (housing and living expenses, 2026). If you apply for BAföG, you’ll receive a notice clearly stating how much your parents must pay in support and how much the BAföG office will pay. The BAföG office will help you enforce this claim for child support, even if you do not receive BAföG. Child support under the Child Support Act varies depending on the parents’ income and can be found in the Düsseldorf Table. If this support is not paid, you can sue for it in court and will then receive a support order specifying the amount. You can take advantage of our free legal counseling for this purpose.
Child Benefit (Kindergeld)
Your parents receive child benefit as a tax-replacement benefit for supporting you. As soon as you move out to pursue your education, you are entitled to financial support from your parents—and thus also to child benefit. You can apply to the Family Benefits Office to have the child benefit paid directly to you. This automatically reduces your claim for support from your parents by the corresponding amount. After turning 18, you’ll only receive child benefit if you’re enrolled in a training program. Your entitlement ends on your 25th birthday or at the end of your training (the month in which you receive your written exam results). If you have completed mandatory military or civilian service, your entitlement is extended. During a semester off, the child benefit office may ask whether you are still enrolled in a training program. To continue receiving benefits, you must be able to prove that you have devoted at least half of your weekly working hours (i.e., 20 hours per week) to your studies.
Support for High-Achieving Students — Deutschlandstipendium — DAAD
Another way to finance your studies is through scholarships—such as those listed in this scholarship database. The 13 organizations for the promotion of talented students support students throughout their entire course of study with a parent-dependent stipend (similar to BAföG) + €300 for books + non-monetary support. The Germany Scholarship supports high-achieving students for one year with €300 (in addition to BAföG, if applicable). Fifty percent of this funding comes from companies. You can always submit applications to your faculty in July. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) supports international students as well as internships and study abroad programs with a wide variety of scholarships.
If You Are Not Eligible for BAföG
If you are not eligible for BAföG on the basis of the criteria or are only eligible for a full BAföG loan, you are automatically eligible for housing allowance. (However, if you are eligible for BAföG but are not receiving it, please refer to the section on parental support.) To apply at the Dresden Housing Allowance Office, you’ll need to provide proof of your projected income for the next 12 months, your rent, and the notice of denial for BAföG.
Since housing assistance is only a subsidy for housing, you must have a minimum income to be eligible for it. The minimum income is calculated as follows:
0.8 × (563 standard needs under §28 SGB XII + rent including utilities + any health insurance/additional needs) – housing assistance = minimum income
For the minimum income, you can include all sources of income: child benefit, earned income, support from relatives, or withdrawals from savings. If your income is lower than this, you can explain in a plausibility statement how you manage on a lower income (secondhand items, food banks, discounts, etc.).
For the housing allowance calculation, only [your income] (https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/wogg/__14.html) is considered, and only the gross rent (excluding utilities) is taken into account. [Feel free to try the housing allowance calculator](https://www.bmwsb.bund.de/ DE/wohnen/wohngeld/wohngeldrechner/wohngeldrechner-2025_node.html). Dresden is classified as rent tier 3.
More than 80% of all students work while attending school. That’s why you’ll find everything you need to know about part-time jobs here. You can find job listings for students, for example, at the Student Employment Service or, as a student representative (SHK), on your faculty’s website.
General Information
The minimum wage applies to all jobs held by students—except for mandatory internships and contracts related to your thesis. Since your studies should be your priority, a job shouldn’t take up more than 20 hours per week. That’s why the TUD only hires SHKs for up to 19.5 hours per week. The child benefit office may also suspend payments if you study fewer than 20 hours per week. However, your student status itself isn’t at risk, even if you work more hours. For any tax-related questions about your job, you can call the Dresden South Tax Office.
Mini-job
With a mini-job, you can earn up to 603 € per month (as of 01/2026) and pay only a flat-rate contribution of approximately 2%. You can decide whether you want to contribute to the pension insurance. If you receive BAföG, you can earn up to €603 gross per month or €7,236 gross over the entire grant period (12 months) without any deductions. If you combine a mini-job with another job, you must inform both employers. If you have any questions about this, please contact the Tax Office—don’t worry :).
The Working Student Privilege
While you’re in school, you can be employed by a company for up to 20 hours per week as a working student and are not required to pay for health, long-term care, or unemployment insurance. You only make contributions to the pension insurance. You can also work more than 20 hours per week if ALL of the following conditions are met:
- The hours worked beyond the 20-hour limit must be in the evenings, on weekends, or during breaks between semesters
- The end of the period in which the 20-hour limit is exceeded must be clearly known
- Counting back one year from the end of the period exceeding 20 hours, the excess may have occurred in no more than 26 weeks
As a working student, you may not be on a semester off or enrolled in a part-time degree program.
Save on Health Insurance
If you’re over 30, you’re no longer eligible for the affordable student health insurance. Voluntary health and long-term care insurance costs more than €200. It’s more cost-effective for you to get health and long-term care insurance through an employer by taking a part-time job. If you work 20 hours or more per week, your employer MUST provide you with health insurance. If you work fewer than 20 hours per week, your employer MAY also provide it. Be sure to ask if this is possible. The working student privilege offers you very few benefits. If you’re a non-EU student over 30, you’re not eligible for voluntary statutory health insurance, and private insurance plans are expensive or may refuse to cover international students. In that case, a part-time job is your only way to obtain statutory health insurance.
Special note: If you’re over 30 and still receiving BAföG, the BAföG office will pay you a subsidy toward your health and long-term care insurance equal to the actual costs.