Berlin Constitutional Court: Bafög 2021 was unconstitutionally low
A student filed a complaint, who studied medicine at the Charité in Berlin since 2016. Her complaint referred to the period from October 2021 to September 2022. In her opinion, the requirements for students were "unconstitutionally" low assessed.
Regarding the housing needs, the total average housing costs in the entire federal territory should not be taken into account, the Administrative Court ruled. In fact, the average rent at the place of study or comparable places should serve as a comparison.
In 2021, costs varied by up to 230 Euro among different university towns. For instance, they were around 595 Euro on average in Munich and 266 Euro in Freiberg, Saxony.
The Berlin Administrative Court suspended the proceedings and submitted the case to the Federal Constitutional Court. As a specialist court, it is not authorized to determine the unconstitutionality of a parliamentary law, it was stated.
The student who filed the complaint was eligible for Bafög funding during her studies at Charité in Berlin. Despite studying in Berlin since 2016, she believed the requirements for Bafög were unfairly assessed between October 2021 and September 2022, deeming them "unconstitutionally" low. After ruling on the housing needs, the Administrative Court in Berlin suggested that the total average housing costs across the entire federal territory should not be considered, instead, the average rent at the place of study or similar locations should be used as a comparison.
