Financing Erasmus+

(higher cost of living)

Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Sweden, United Kingdom (UK stays can still be funded with the Erasmus funding rate for country group 1, but with a limited budget so that the scholarship cannot be guaranteed).

Funding rate: 20 €/day (600 €/month)

(average cost of living)

Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Czech Republic, Turkey, Hungary, Cyprus

Funding rate: € 18/day (€ 540/month)

• Stays up to 89 days:                              calculated on a daily basis
• Stays between 90 - 179 days:               3 monthly installments as a lump sum
• Stays of 180 days or more:                   6 monthly installments as a lump sum

(1 month = 30 days; exception for stays ending on February 28 or 29)

Before the start of your stay abroad, you will receive the Grant Agreement, which informs you about the approval, the funding period and the amount of the grant. 

After arriving at the partner university and submitting the Certificate of Arrival document, 80% of the total grant amount will be paid to you. The amount is based on the provisional dates of your stay. Please always plan for pre-financing, e.g. for the first rent!

The remaining 20% will be paid out after your return, once you have submitted all the necessary documents to the Erasmus+ office or uploaded them to the Mobility-Online portal. The second installment will be calculated based on the information you provide in the Letter of Confirmation document and may include the Green Top Up.

 Incomplete or late submission of documents may result in a partial or full refund of the scholarship.

The obligation to pay fixed country rates on the part of the EU may mean that not all students can be funded. In this case, a ranking will be drawn up according to certain criteria (grade point average, language skills, motivation, etc.). There is no legal entitlement to receive the Erasmus mobility grant or to a specific amount of funding.

Participation in the Erasmus+ program is also possible without claiming the mobility grant (as a so-called 'zero grant student'), provided that the valid Erasmus+ conditions are met. Zero grant students have regular Erasmus+ status (i.e.  among other things, they are exempt from tuition fees at the host university) and must register in Mobility-Online. They are required to submit all necessary documents to the Erasmus office.

Please note: Erasmus+ students at the University of Tübingen (including zero grant students) are not eligible for the Baden-Württemberg Scholarship.

If (at least) one of the following criteria is met, participants can apply for a Social Top Up:

• Paied employment (the activity must have been carried out regularly for at least 6 months prior to the Erasmus stay and the income must be between 450 and 850 € per month)
• Students from a non-academic family
• Students with child/children
• Chronic illness (which leads to additional financial expenditure)
• Severely disabled (from GdB 20%)

Please inform yourself about supporting documents and exact conditions in the criteria catalogue (in German). The application for the Social Top Up is made via a declaration of honor, which you will receive during the application process in Mobility-Online.

The Social Top Up of an additional 250 € per month is calculated on a daily basis and can only be financed for a maximum of 90 days or 180 days. 

Testimonials and further information can be found in German on the websites of the DAAD: Erasmus+ Soziale Teilhabe and Praxisbeispiele für Mobilitätsprojekte.

If you use low-emission means of transport for most of your journey to and from the host university, such as bus, train, bicycle or carpooling (2 or more people), you can apply for a Green Top Up.

Ferries and ships are not considered sustainable. Journeys by electric car are only considered sustainable (as with other cars) if they are made in a carpool.

If necessary, up to 6 travel days can be applied for (as of academic year 2024/25) if it is proven in the declaration of honor ("Ehrenwörtliche Erklärung") that there is an actual need. To calculate the travel days, the distance between the home university and the destination is used according to the Distance Calculator of the EU Commission. You will receive an overview during the application process in Mobility-Online. In principle, the granting of additional travel days is decided individually on the basis of need. 

BAföG for stays abroad can be combined with the Erasmus+ scholarship.

As part of the BAföG reform, the entire course of study is eligible for funding within the EU member states and Switzerland, including a degree. 

In addition to the requirements, the following costs are paid for a stay abroad:

• Study abroad allowances (only outside the EU)
• Health insurance abroad
• Flat-rate travel expenses (250 € within the EU, € 500 outside the EU)

50% of the BAföG international funding is granted as a grant and 50% as an interest-free loan. The Erasmus+ mobility grant remains free of charge up to 300 € per month.

The additional requirements of studying abroad can also make it possible for students who do not receive funding in Germany due to the level of their parents' income to be supported.

A list of country-specific foreign allowances (BAföG Foreign Allowances Ordinance) as well as the offices responsible for funding abroad can be found on the Internet at the following address: http://www.bafoeg.bmbf.de

Applications must be submitted at least six months before the start of the training period.

BAföG for stays abroad and Top Ups:

• Green Top Up: the amount is considered as an additional income for the calculation of the subside.
• Social Top Up: the amount is considered as an additional income in case of students from a non-academic family and students with an employment. For students with disability, chronic illness or children, the amount is not considered as an additional income.

The following scholarships cannot be combined with Erasmus+:

• Baden-Württemberg scholarship (even as a zero-grant student, funding cannot be provided)
• Bachelor Plus Molecular Medicine
• Scholarships funded by the DAAD
• Scholarships from the "Begabtenförderungswerke"

Please contact the scholarship providers in good time to find out whether they can be combined with Erasmus+.