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Last week Katie from my marketing seminar stood rather perplexed in front of the BAföG office on Leopoldstraße in Munich. Her BAföG notice had suddenly come out 187 euros lower, because as a working student at a Munich start-up she had worked 22 hours a week. She had thought everything was automatically fine as a working student. This is exactly where the problem lies: many people don't understand that "working student" and BAföG are, rules-wise, two completely different sets of regulations that have to be cleverly combined. I'll now show you in detail how many hours you may work and how to avoid blowing past the earnings limit.

The good news first: you can definitely work as a working student and still keep your BAföG (the German government student aid). The bad news: there are clear limits, and you have to know them. Under the current BAföG law (§ 23 para. 2 BAföG), the annual income limit for BAföG recipients in the 2024/2025 approval period is 6,815.04 euros gross. That's roughly 568 euros gross a month if you spread the year out.

The earnings limit for working students on BAföG: what really counts?

Here it gets concrete: the BAföG office looks at your income in the approval period, typically October through September of the following year. If you earn more than 6,815.04 euros gross in these twelve months as a working student, your BAföG is reduced. And not by a little: of every euro you earn above this limit, after deducting the lump sum for income-related expenses and the social security lump sum, about 80 percent is deducted from your BAföG.

A practical calculation example: you work as a working student at a software company in Hamburg for 15 euros an hour. At 20 hours a week you reach 1,200 euros gross a month. Over twelve months that's 14,400 euros gross. If you subtract the allowances (per § 23 para. 1 BAföG: 290 euros lump sum for income-related expenses plus about 21.3 percent social security lump sum), about 8,900 euros of countable income remain. That is well above the limit of 6,815.04 euros. The difference of about 2,085 euros is counted against your BAföG at around 80 percent, so you lose about 1,668 euros of BAföG a year, roughly 139 euros a month.

Working student hours: the 20-hour rule has nothing to do with BAföG

Many students confuse the 20-hour limit from social insurance law with the BAföG earnings limit. These are two completely different things. The 20-hour rule says that during the lecture period you may work a maximum of 20 hours a week in order to be exempt from health, long-term care, and unemployment insurance as a working student. In the semester break you may also work more.

For your BAföG, however, the number of hours isn't what matters, but solely your annual income. You could theoretically work just 10 hours a week, but if your hourly wage is 25 euros, you'll still blow past the earnings limit. Conversely, you can also work 20 hours if your hourly wage is low enough. I know students in Leipzig who work for an NGO at 12 euros an hour and, at 20 hours a week, just barely stay under the limit.

How to calculate your maximum working time as a working student on BAföG

Now it gets practical. To find out how many hours you can work as a working student without losing BAföG, you need this formula: divide the annual earnings limit of 6,815.04 euros by your hourly wage and then by 12 months. The result is your maximum monthly hours.

Example: at an hourly wage of 14 euros the calculation is: 6,815.04 euros ÷ 14 euros = 486.79 hours a year. Divided by 12 months = about 40.6 hours a month. That corresponds to about 9.3 hours a week with even distribution. If you earn 16 euros an hour, it's only about 8.1 hours a week.

An important tip from my own experience: always calculate with some buffer. In the summer semester of 2023 I had a working student job at an advertising agency in Berlin-Kreuzberg for 15.50 euros an hour. I deliberately limited myself to 35 hours a month, even though mathematically I could have worked up to 37 hours. That buffer saved me when my boss spontaneously offered me overtime in July.

Working as a working student without losing BAföG: strategies for practice

Working student and BAföG: how many hours are allowed?

You don't have to give up every euro. There are clever strategies for earning more as a working student without jeopardizing your BAföG entitlement. The most important one: make full use of the semester breaks. Under the 20-hour rule, in the lecture-free period you may also work 40 hours a week without losing your working student status.

Here's my trick: work only minimally during the semester, around 8 hours a week, and ramp up massively during the semester breaks. A concrete example from my circle of friends: Tom works 8 hours a week during the lecture period at an engineering firm in Stuttgart for 18 euros an hour. That's about 576 euros gross a month over nine months, so 5,184 euros. In the three months of semester break he works full time with 160 hours a month, earning another 8,640 euros. Annual total: 13,824 euros gross.

Sounds like exceeding the limit? It is. But Tom has a second trick: he registers his working student job so that the approval period of his BAföG falls cleverly. His BAföG runs from April to March, his intensive work phases fall in the summer break from July to September. Through clever planning, his income is distributed so that he stays under the limit within an approval period.

Special cases with different working models

Not every working student job runs evenly. Some companies pay project bonuses, holiday bonuses, or variable compensation. This is where it gets complicated: every form of compensation counts toward countable income. In 2022 I had a working student job at a Munich publisher that paid me a Christmas bonus of 300 euros in December. This bonus was counted in full toward my annual income and pushed me over the limit.

Also important: mini-jobs on a 538-euro basis (as of 2024) are treated differently. A mini-job stays entirely exempt from the BAföG calculation as long as you don't also work elsewhere at the same time. But if you combine a mini-job with a working student job, both incomes are added together. I learned this from a classmate from Cologne who thought she could run both in parallel.

Reporting obligations and what happens if you exceed the limit

You are obliged to report every change in your income situation to the BAföG office. This is stated crystal clear in § 60 of the First Book of the Social Code (SGB I). If you take on a working student job or your working hours change, you must report it within four weeks. If you don't, and the office finds out later, for example through the automatic data comparison with the pension insurance, it can get really expensive.

In the worst case you not only have to repay the overpaid BAföG but also pay a fine. According to the German Student Services organization (Deutsches Studentenwerk) in 2023, about 12,000 cases of BAföG fraud are uncovered each year, many of them through unreported working student jobs. The average repayment demand is about 3,200 euros (source: https://www.studentenwerke.de).

If you exceed the earnings limit, your BAföG is recalculated. This doesn't happen retroactively for the entire approval period, but from the month of the change. You then receive a new notice with the reduced amount. A friend from Frankfurt told me that her BAföG was cut from 450 euros to 312 euros a month because she had increased her working student hours from 10 to 18 a week.

Alternative sources of income that are friendlier to BAföG

Not every way of working affects your BAföG equally. There are indeed ways to earn money alongside your studies without it being fully counted. Self-employed work on a fee basis is treated the same as working student jobs, but here you have more control over your income and can claim business expenses.

I know several students who earn a little extra with small online projects. Whether it's making money as a student through freelance copywriting, graphic design, or social media management, here you can plan your assignments so that you earn a lot in one month and less in the next. All that matters is that you stay under the annual limit by the end of the approval period.

Another option: scholarships and education loans are not counted against BAföG. Maintenance from your parents up to the legally provided amount also stays out. If you want to get creative, there are even more unusual routes such as platforms for earning money on the side, which are treated differently depending on their design.

What changes in 2024/2025 for BAföG and working student jobs?

Working student and BAföG: how many hours are allowed?

The BAföG reform that took effect for the 2022/2023 winter semester significantly raised the allowances. Before the reform the earnings limit was only 5,400 euros a year, now it's 6,815.04 euros. That's an increase of over 26 percent. Further adjustments are planned for 2025, but concrete figures aren't available yet. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has announced that it will adjust the allowances to inflation (source: https://www.bmbf.de/bafoeg).

At the same time the minimum wage is rising. Since January 1, 2024 it has been 12.41 euros an hour. That means: even at minimum wage and 20 hours a week you already earn about 994 euros gross a month, so just under 12,000 euros a year. That is almost double the BAföG allowance limit. You see: the 20-hour rule and the BAföG earnings limit no longer fit together. That's why you have to reduce your hours or distribute them cleverly over the year.

Practical checklist: how to keep track

From my own experience and the mistakes I've seen in others, I've developed a simple checklist that you should work through monthly:

  • Keep an Excel sheet or an app in which you enter every hour worked and every euro earned
  • By the 15th of each month at the latest, project your current annual income and compare it with the limit of 6,815.04 euros
  • Also factor in one-off payments such as bonuses, holiday pay, or premiums
  • Report every change in your work situation to the BAföG office in writing within four weeks
  • Keep all pay slips and employment contracts for at least five years

For two years now I've been using a simple Google spreadsheet that I update weekly. There I enter date, hours, hourly wage, and gross earnings. At the end of the month I add everything up and project where I stand in the current approval period. It takes less than five minutes, but it has already saved my BAföG entitlement twice, because I noticed in time that I was about to reach the limit.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Can I work full time during the semester break as a working student on BAföG?

Yes, from a social insurance perspective that is allowed. The 20-hour limit only applies during the lecture period. But beware: every euro earned still counts toward the BAföG earnings limit of 6,815.04 euros a year. If you earn about 6,240 euros in three months of semester break working full time at a 12-euro minimum wage, you're left with only a buffer of 575 euros for the rest of the year.

Do I have to pay taxes as a working student on BAföG?

That depends on your annual income. The basic allowance in 2024 is 11,604 euros. If you stay under the BAföG limit of 6,815.04 euros, you definitely pay no income tax. Even if you're above it but stay under the basic allowance, no tax is due. You should still file a tax return in any case, because you may get overpaid income tax refunded.

What if I have two different working student jobs at the same time?

Both incomes are added together and counted toward the earnings limit. In addition, the 20-hour rule gets more complicated: the total working time of both jobs may not exceed 20 hours a week during the lecture period. I advise against it unless you can coordinate the working hours perfectly. A friend from Heidelberg tried it and ended up losing both jobs because she couldn't manage the organization.

How does a working student job affect my parents' child benefit?

Since 2012 there has been no income limit for child benefit (Kindergeld) for adult children in their first training. Your parents receive the current child benefit of 250 euros a month (more from the third child) regardless of how much you earn as a working student. This applies up to your 25th birthday, as long as you're studying.

Do I lose my working student status if I work more than 20 hours?

If you work permanently more than 20 hours a week during the lecture period, you no longer count as a working student but as a normal employee. Health, long-term care, and unemployment insurance then become due, which becomes considerably more expensive for both you and the employer. Exceptions are possible during semester breaks or for fixed-term projects. Details are governed by the working time guideline of the German Pension Insurance.

My conclusion: planning beats spontaneity

After three years as a working student on BAföG I can assure you of one thing: combining the two absolutely works, but only with meticulous planning. The magic limit of 6,815.04 euros a year is not negotiable. If you exceed it, it's reduced, no ifs or buts. My personal strategy was always to stay well under this limit, around 6,200 euros a year, to have a buffer for unexpected bonus payments or raises.

Work out your individual maximum number of hours based on your specific hourly wage. Keep meticulous records of every hour worked. Report changes to the BAföG office immediately. And if you notice that you're going to reach the limit, reduce your hours in time or pause completely. That sounds like effort, but it's far less stressful than a repayment demand from the BAföG office. Trust me, I've experienced both.

If you plan cleverly, as a working student you can gain valuable work experience, build a solid side income, and still keep your BAföG at full amount. The combination works, you just have to know the rules and stick to them.