Non-Citizen Eligibility for Student Financial Aid in the Federal Republic of Germany
The eligibility of legal immigrants to receive federal student financial aid in the
United States is under review in the 104th Congress. Currently, non-citizens who
are permanent residents of the United States, along with certain categories of refugees,
are eligible, but both the House of Representatives and the Senate have passed bills
that in different ways would eliminate many non-citizens from grant, loan, and work-study
benefits.
The Federal Republic of Germany has also restricted its benefits to immigrants in
recent years, but non-citizens still remain eligible for federal student financial
aid. In general, non-citizens must be other than temporary residents in Germany and
linked to the economy in some way. The premise is that if the students or students' parents
have been legally employed in the economy (and paying taxes) they may partake of
its student financial aid benefits for further education and further contribution
to the economy. The German student guidebook summarizes the policy in this way: "...aliens
as a general rule are afforded federal student aid if, before the beginning of their
studies, they or at a minimum one of their parents are employed in Germany five or
three years, respectively." (BAföG 95/96 Gesetz und Beispiele, p. 8, translated)
Comparative studies provide valuable contexts for legislation in the United States.
The Federal Republic of Germany is an appropriate country with which to compare U.S.
higher education policies in that it is the world's third largest economy, it is
a federal republic like the United States, it is increasingly dependent on high technology
output from its universities, and it has also struggled with immigration questions
in the 1990s.
Presented here in German and in English translation (choose one) is the section of the German higher education student support
law (Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetz)
dealing with citizen and non-citizen eligibility for federal student financial aid.
Prepared June 1, 1996