Funding

Under the current BAföG rules, internships qualify for funding both within Europe and beyond.

The following basically applies:

• Compulsory internships lasting at least 12 weeks qualify for funding
• Additional costs can be considered beyond requirements rates (travel expenses, foreign weighting for higher living costs, etc.)
• Higher requirements rates abroad can mean that certain students might be eligible for funding who aren’t so in Germany due to parental income level
• Applications for funding abroad should be submitted at least six months in advance
• The office in charge of the funding is determined by your destination country (not your local office in Germany).

This information is provided without guarantee! As BAföG regulations can change at any time, it is absolutely vital that you check the current regulations personally with the appropriate office:

Official BAföG website
Federal Ministry of Education and Research 
Augsburg Student Union  (Further details also in this flyer)
 

The federal government runs a an education loan programme that offers e.g. students at an advanced point in their training a opportunity to take out a straightforward, low-interest loan that is flexible enough to meet their specific requirements and is not means-tested.

In contrast to BAföG funding, this education loan is not dependent upon your income and assets, nor that of your parents, spouse or partner.

These loans are granted by the Federal Administration Office (Bundesverwaltungsamt – BVA) in Cologne, and further information can be found on its website.

As an Erasmus+ institution, Kempten University of Applied Sciences also supports internships throughout Europe. You can find full information about the programme at Erasmus+

You can explore all forms of funding offered by Kempten University of Applied Sciences under Bursaries (for plans abroad).

with China, France, India, California, Latin America and central, eastern and south-eastern Europe offer a range of funding programmes and regularly invite applications for bursaries. It’s worth checking their websites, listed here.

The DAAD offers lots of different bursaries to students spending time abroad, including for foreign internships. The DAAD website includes an extensive database of bursaries!

The extremely wide range of sources for funding (e.g. foundations, organisations) makes it rather difficult and time-consuming to uncover them all – but it can prove well worth the effort! In any case, you are going to need lots of initiative and patience. Some of the organisations that arrange internships also offer bursaries. We have pooled some useful contacts under Bursaries.

The foreign internship website for Bavarian students “Study & Work International” publishes foreign internship vacancies and also has plenty of information about bursaries and other means of funding internships all over the world. To find out more, visit Study & Work.

A major advantage of opting for an internship for your time abroad is that many companies pay a wage that partially – or in some cases even fully – covers your costs. Having said that, the rate of pay can differ significantly, depending on your degree programme, the sector that you company operates in, the country concerned and its current economic situation, your own qualifications, previous work experience and knowledge base – and, last but not least, your negotiation skills.

As your income as an intern could potentially cover a significant proportion of your costs, it’s well worthwhile trying to negotiate some form of payment! For tactical reasons, the subject is not something you should raise right at the start, but rather hold back a little, until the company in question has expressed an interest in you or agreed to hire you.

The arguments you can put forward might include the additional costs incurred by moving and living abroad, e.g. two rents to pay, both locally to the company and at home, travel expenses, possibly the cost of a visa, etc. You have also acquired a certain level of specialist knowledge and you are offering your services to the company full-time for 4–5 months, which represents added value to the host company that’s worth remuneration. If no actual wage is forthcoming, perhaps you can seek some other form of support, such as the company covering your outgoing travel expenses, free lodgings and / or meals in the canteen, a travel pass for public transport, a car that you can use, or similar payment in kind.