The General Students’ Committee (AStA) of Kiel University (CAU) reports a new record number of support fund applications (formerly “hardship applications”) for the semester contribution. For the winter semester 2025/26, 190 applications from students in financial hardship have already been submitted.
Through AStA’s hardship fund, students whose available monthly income falls below the BAföG basic needs rate plus the monthly share of the semester ticket price (a total of €568.80) can have the cost of the Germany Semester Ticket reimbursed (currently €208.80). In this case, the students may continue to use the semester ticket.
The AStA itself is heavily burdened by the high volume of applications, reports board member Lukas Drescher:
“The number of applications has more than tripled since last year. Until last winter semester, the numbers were always stable at 56 to 59 applications, but now we are practically being flooded with support applications. On average, it takes 45 minutes to process a single application. Due to the sudden surge in numbers, our two caseworkers are facing massive challenges. As a result, students in social hardship have to wait longer for urgently needed support.”
Discontinuing the program is not an option for Kiel’s AStA:
“It’s actually not part of our core responsibilities to compensate for the social hardships of students with our contributions, but in times of exploding costs it is important to us to contribute, at least to some degree, to educational equity through our reimbursement mechanism,”
explains AStA board member Lea-Marie Lopau.
AStA does not expect the number of applications to decrease in the coming semesters. With the planned administrative fee of €60, a semester contribution of €400 is now within reach. This poses a particular challenge for AStA: ensuring that the fund remains sufficiently financed while more and more students—driven into financial hardship by rising semester contributions—submit applications.
The AStA board therefore appeals to the state government:
“Your policies are driving more and more of us into poverty. €400 per semester amounts to over €66 per month. Stop the introduction of the administrative fee!”
demands Lea-Marie Lopau.
The AStA of CAU and the student unions of Schleswig-Holstein are therefore calling for a demonstration on 04 December at 12:00 against the administrative fee and university underfunding. The CAU Senate reaffirmed its decision against the administrative fee in July. The Senate also expressed concern about the financial future of CAU and unanimously supported the demonstration call yesterday.
Further information can be found at keinmalzahlung60.sh/demo-kiel
Appendix: Number of Support Fund Applications in Recent Semesters
| Semester | Submitted | Approved |
| SoSe24 | 58 | 48 |
| WiSe2425 | 59 | 45 |
| SoSe25 | 123 | 100 |
| WiSe2526* | 190 |
Application deadline runs until 13.11.2025
