Single parents at university

Single parents are faced with the special challenge of combining raising children, organizing everyday life and studying. In most cases, there is no free time available for working in order to further secure their livelihood. State benefits such as parental allowance, advance maintenance payments and special financial aid under the BAföG are therefore indispensable for single parents and should be applied for in any case.

Student loans for single-parent students

The Hildegardis Association offers interest-free loans for single female students. The prerequisite is that the applicant has not yet reached the age of 30 and that she is of Christian denomination. All fields of study and study goals are supported. The loan is interest-free and is paid in monthly amounts of 500€ or 250€.

Since students usually do not earn any income before starting their studies, they only receive the minimum amount of 300€ in parental allowance.
If income was earned, e.g. from a student job, the regular contributions apply (67% of the last net income, min. 300€ - max. 1800€). Eltenrgeld is paid regardless of the weekly working hours completed during studies.
If students receive BAföG, the parental allowance of 300€ is not deducted.
Single parents receive the full 14 months of parental allowance. The prerequisite is that the parent has sole custody or at least the right to determine the child's residence and that the other parent does not live in the same apartment with the parent or the child.

Child benefit is paid to the single parent. However, the parent liable for maintenance may reduce his or her maintenance payments by half of the child benefit.

Any child who is a minor is entitled to maintenance, regardless of whether the parents are married or not.
The parent with whom the child lives provides maintenance by caring for/raising the child.
The parent with whom the child does not live is liable for cash maintenance.

Child support is calculated according to the income of the parent and the age of the child. The so-called Düsseldorfer Tabelle contains guidelines for the need for child support.

Divorced or separated women who have interrupted their education due to family work are generally entitled to (continued) financing of their studies through spousal support.

Advance maintenance payments are made if the parent liable for maintenance does not pay any or too little maintenance for the child. In this case, the responsible child support advance fund makes an advance payment. The parent liable to pay maintenance must reimburse the advance payment at a later date.

The advance maintenance payment is paid until the child reaches the age of majority.

As of 01.01.2024, the advance on maintenance payments amounts to the following per month

    for children up to 5 years: up to 230€
    for children from 6 to 11 years: up to 301€
    for children from 12 to 17 years of age: up to 395€

For children after the age of 12, it is a prerequisite that they are not dependent on benefits under SGB II or that the single parent in receipt of SGB II earns their own income of at least €600 gross/month.

Children receive an age-related standard rate of 283 €/month for children up to 5 years of age and 309 €/month for children 6-13 years of age, if the following conditions are met:

• the residence is in Germany
• the child lives with a single parent and
• does not receive, or only partially receives, or does not regularly receive maintenance from the other parent in the amount of the statutory minimum maintenance pursuant to Section 1612a (1) of the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch), and
• the child has not yet reached the age of 12.

The balancing act between childcare, studies and possible employment must be particularly well organized. Here it is important to organize alternatives to regular childcare and support for emergencies at an early stage.
An overview of the many childcare options at Leuphana can be found here.

The Studentenwerk rents apartments at William-Watt-Strasse 55 in Lüneburg exclusively to families or single parents with child(ren). The dormitory is family-friendly and is located in the middle of greenery in the immediate vicinity of a playground.
The apartments (90-95 sqm) each have four rooms as well as a living hall, a kitchen, a bathroom and a separate toilet.
The rooms can be occupied either by a family or by two single students. In the latter case, each tenant receives two rooms, the remaining rooms are shared.
Further information is available from the Studentenwerk Ostniedersachsen.

Leuphana: Meeting for single parents

At irregular intervals, the Family Service offers a meeting for single parents. In a cozy atmosphere you can network and exchange ideas with like-minded people (with or without a child). For information about single parenting (such as financial regulations, childcare, etc.), a contact person from the Family Service will be on site. The dates will be announced in good time via myStudy.

Family Center Plus
Every Wednesday at 2:30 p.m., the Family Center Plus Am Weißen Turm 9 in Lüneburg offers a meeting for single parents to exchange ideas and network.

Association of single mothers and fathers registered association/ Internet portal "the single parents
The portal "die-alleinerziehenden.de" is a project of the federation of however-educating mothers and fathers registered association (VAMV). The VAMV works on the basis of the assistance to the self-help. That means that all members become active in the context of their personal possibilities and use themselves for the acknowledgment and the improvement of the situation of single-parent families.

Detailed information, all factual topics around single parenting and the possibility to become an active member of the association are available at www.vamv.de.