Financing of the technical college entrance qualification - bafög, child benefit, tax deductibility, education bonus

What costs are to be financed?

Of course, the delayed rescheduling of the technical college entrance is always associated with costs. These can be very different. Anyone who decides to take the evening school or distance course will have to bear running costs for the entire course. Those who acquire their technical college entrance qualification as part of a normal school career will have significantly lower costs. Here it is primarily the cost of teaching materials and books. The cost of living is usually still relatively low, since you are usually still living with the parents in this phase of life.

However, it may not only be the costs, but also the lack of income that you have to worry about. Anyone who leaves the regular school career without the technical college entrance qualification can of course return from work to catch up. This is often done after completing the apprenticeship, because then you can attain a technical college entrance qualification within one year and then start studying straight away. Anyone who has been in professional life and now goes back to school full-time, of course, first of all breaks down the income.

Financing through Bafög

Bafög stands for the Federal Education Promotion Act – it is particularly well known as a means of financing a degree. The Bafög also supports further education. However, they are conditions not necessarily low for this funding. Many are likely to fail because the applicant must complete the training full-time. This applies above all to the visitors of a normal, mostly state school, but not to all those who only pursue their training in the evening and at the weekend alongside their normal job.

However, there is also state subsidy for these. This is regulated in § 3 distance learning of the Federal Education Promotion Act. However, the maximum of the last 12 months of training is funded here. In addition, the training must have been running for at least 6 months and here, too, the trainee’s workforce must be fully utilized by the course in three consecutive calendar months. In addition, the application must be approved before the age of 30 and the student may no longer be registered with the parents. All of these requirements can also be met at a distance school. In the case of personal or family hardship, exemptions are also possible.

You have particularly good chances of receiving a Bafög grant if you have a completed one vocational training Returns to school full time. It should be a type of school that requires vocational training. For example, this could be the twelfth grade of a technical college. If you enter the 11th grade of the technical college without vocational training, you can only receive a Bafög under special conditions. This can be the case, for example, if the school is too far from the home or if you already have your own household with your own children.

child benefit

child benefit can also be paid beyond the age of 18. It is granted up to a maximum of 25 years of age. However, there are some prerequisites from the age of majority. Child benefit will continue to be paid if the child prepares for professional life. This can be vocational training, but also further school education or a degree. Any activity that is pursued with the serious aim of creating or maintaining a livelihood in the future. On the other hand, the child benefit entitlement can also lapse after initial training and employment that is harmful to entitlement. This is the case when a "harmful employment" is pursued. This is the case if the regular weekly is more than 20 hours. There are also exceptions to this. If it is an apprenticeship or a minor job with a regular salary not exceeding 450 euros, child benefit is still paid.

Those who graduate from a university of applied sciences in a full-time school should in most cases still be able to receive child benefit. On the other hand, those who catch up on their university entrance qualification through distance learning will in most cases no longer be eligible for child benefit due to their age or income level. The Federal Employment Agency provides detailed information on child benefit.

Tax deductibility

In many cases, training costs can be tax-deducted as advertising costs or special expenses. So you reduce the taxable income. How much you save in tax depends on the amount of your own income and tax rate. Further training with a clear connection to working life is tax-deductible as advertising costs. This does not apply to a school-leaving qualification such as a high school diploma or a technical college entrance qualification. However, these can be deducted as special editions.

The tax deductibility is not only limited to the course costs, but there is also a whole rat tail of other deductible costs: examination and seminar fees, specialist literature, work equipment (e.g. computers, software), travel costs as well as accommodation costs and catering expenses for seminar participation.

Bildungsprämie

The state supports private further education for vocational training through the education bonus. Half of the training is subsidized – but limited to a maximum of 500 euros. A reward voucher can be issued per person at most every two calendar years. The prerequisites include an average of at least 15 hours of weekly work. However, people on maternity leave, parental leave or care leave can also receive a bonus voucher. In addition, taxable income for individuals may amount to a maximum of 20,000 euros. In the case of jointly assessed persons, this sum doubles to 40,000 euros.

School qualifications are fundamentally also eligible. In addition to the other funding requirements, the person in the main job is also employed. So if you want to acquire the Abitur or technical college qualification in addition to your job at a distance learning school, you have a good chance of being supported by the education bonus. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research provides further and current information on the education bonus.