Students in need of financial aid from the Corona crisis will soon be able to get government relief. That announces Minister of Education Karliczek and names the award criteria.

According to a survey by the Deutsches Studierendenwerk, around two thirds of students in Germany had a part-time job to pay for their studies - then the Corona crisis came and many jobs were lost.

Federal Education Minister Anja Karliczek has now announced state aid for students in financial distress: "From Tuesday, those affected can apply for non-repayable grants of up to EUR 500 per month via a nationwide, standardized online procedure," she told the "Augsburger Allgemeine". The applications would be processed by the local student or student services organization.

Students organized protests
In the past three months of the Corona crisis, students had raised awareness of their situation in many places. At some universities, such as Magdeburg-Stendal, the sponsors themselves organized an emergency aid fund and paid one-off amounts to the students. They had to make an application beforehand.

There are also requirements for Corona state aid, which Karliczek says are broad: Students from home and abroad are entitled to the money, regardless of age and number of semesters. "The crucial criterion is the pandemic, individual, acute emergency," she said.

Karliczek also referred to the "proven KfW student loan", which is now also open to students from abroad - and is used a lot: the number of applications has quadrupled compared to April, she said.