Study and internship
If you want to gain practical knowledge alongside your studies, an internship is the ideal opportunity. Your internship may be a compulsory period of practical training prescribed by the university or it may be voluntary.
This distinction plays an important role in BAföG, social insurance and minimum wage, but not in child benefit. Another decisive factor is when you complete the internship.
Internship and BAföG
Some internships are eligible for BAföG funding, others are not. Your earnings will always be deducted in full from your BAföG benefits if you complete your internship during an approval period. Sometimes you can claim increased advertising costs from the BAföG office if, for example, you have to travel a long way to the internship site by car.
Insurance
You are generally obliged to take out your own health insurance - either as an insured family member through your parents or at a reduced rate for students.
For some internships, your employer will pay additional social insurance contributions. Only voluntary internships are always deducted from the amount of gainful employment permitted for students.
Internship before your studies
If you are doing a compulsory internship that is a prerequisite for starting your studies, you can already receive BAföG benefits.
Because it is a compulsory internship, you are not entitled to minimum wage. The internship company pays contributions to pension insurance and unemployment insurance. You only share the contributions with the employer if you earn more.
Voluntary internship
If you do the internship voluntarily before your studies, you are not entitled to BAföG benefits.
You can only receive minimum wage if the duration of the internship exceeds 3 months or if you have already completed such an internship with this employer before. However, you are entitled to appropriate remuneration.
If you earn more than 520 euros per month, you will be subject to all social security contributions as an employee and will share the contributions with the internship company.
If you earn less, the employer will pay a lump sum for health, long-term care and pension insurance.
Internship during your studies
You are not entitled to minimum wage for a compulsory internship during your studies. The internship company pays contributions to pension insurance and unemployment insurance. You only share the contributions with the employer if your earnings are higher. Your earnings will be deducted from any BAföG benefits you receive.
Voluntary internship
If your internship during your studies is voluntary, it will not affect your basic BAföG entitlement if you complete it during the semester break or part-time.
You can only receive minimum wage if the duration of the internship exceeds 3 months or if you have already completed such an internship with this employer before. However, you are entitled to appropriate remuneration.
Social insurance
You are exempt from social insurance contributions if the requirements for marginal employment are met.
Voluntary internships are also exempt from social security contributions if they appear to be useful for the success of your studies and you are paid less than 520 euros. However, the internship must be for the first intended degree, a subsequent doctorate no longer counts. Otherwise, the employer pays flat-rate contributions to health and long-term care insurance.
If you do not receive a salary or are only employed on a short-term basis, you are also exempt from pension insurance contributions. The employer only pays flat-rate contributions if you earn up to 520 euros.
Only if you earn more than this will you be subject to compulsory insurance as an employee. As a student, you are always exempt from unemployment insurance.
Interrupting your studies for an internship
If the regulations of your university allow it, you can take a semester off for your voluntary internship. During this time, you will generally not receive BAföG and the semester will not count towards your standard period of study.
If you interrupt your studies without taking a leave of absence, you will lose the basic eligibility for funding for this period and the unused semester will be counted towards the standard period of study.
If you want to do your voluntary internship abroad, you should first find out what your BAföG office will do. The legislation on this is unclear and some federal states cancel the benefit during this period.
However, if you were on leave of absence from your university to spend a semester abroad, you can receive domestic BAföG for a subsequent internship abroad, but only during the last two months before you continue your studies in Germany.
Internship after graduation
If you have to do practical work after completing your degree in order for it to be recognized by the state, you are considered a normal employee and pay into all social insurance schemes accordingly. There is no entitlement to BAföG.
The same applies if you complete a voluntary internship after graduation. If it is short-term employment, you are exempt from insurance regardless of your earnings. The employer also does not have to pay any flat-rate contributions. You must take out your own health insurance.
Internship for students from abroad
The general rules for internships with regard to wages and social insurance also apply to foreign students.
As you come from a country of origin within the EU or EEA, you can come to Germany and complete an internship without any restrictions. It does not matter whether you are enrolled at a German university or a university in your country of origin.
You will receive special support in planning and carrying out your internship if you are completing it as part of an EU-funded program such as LEONARDO, SOKRATES, TACIS or ERASMUS.