Saxony has the highest proportion of students with Bafög funding

According to a study, Saxony has the highest proportion of students who finance their studies with student grants. In 2022, 19,186 students in the federal state took advantage of this state funding, accounting for 18.3 percent, according to an analysis published on Friday by the CHE Center for Higher Education Development. The proportion is thus above the national average: 11.5 percent of students in Germany are supported in this way, according to the analysis.

State instruments such as scholarships played a much smaller role, even though the proportion here was high compared to the rest of Germany. And only 404 people took out a new student loan from the state development bank KfW in 2022 - the lowest proportion together with Saxony-Anhalt, Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia (all 0.4 percent). In contrast, more than 55% of students were employed in 2021. This proportion is the third lowest in Germany. All four eastern German federal states had the lowest proportion of students with a part-time job.

According to the CHE analysis, around five out of six students nationwide were not using Bafög, state loans or scholarships in 2022. Financial support from parents and part-time jobs are the most important sources of student financing, said study author Ulrich Müller according to the press release.

There is a need for reform, said Müller. If the system of student financing in Germany remains unchanged, "in future, academic success will depend more and more on whether you have rich parents or are enrolled on a flexible degree course that is compatible with part-time jobs". This does not have much to do with "equitable participation in higher education".