Since the ISA is not income, not a scholarship and not a state-recognised grant, you can also receive BAföG without any problems in the later payment or in the half immediate payment. The financial contributions will not be deducted from your BAföG. However, you must be aware that you will have to make repayments for BAföG and ISA at the same time, which can lead to a special financial burden. Therefore, please contact your BAföG office to find out how the ISA will affect your BAföG. We cannot provide any binding information on this. Conversely, we do take into account BaföG repayments during your ISA repayment phase by increasing the amount of your minimum income.
The calculation of the fixed direct payment contribution is based on the determined late payment contribution. Using the income information of dozens of generations of late payers, we determine what Witten graduates of a degree programme earn on average after completing their studies. Now we look at the cumulative amount an average earning alumna would pay if she paid 12% of her relevant income for a full course of study (preclinical and clinical; Bachelor and Master) over a period of 10 years. This amount is the fixed amount of the immediate payers and determines which instalment is collected each month. In this way, it is possible to calculate the average income of Witten graduates for each degree programme using the income information of all late payers. The different immediate payment contributions for each degree programme are based on the different salary expectations of the graduates.
In a nutshell: The amount of the fixed direct payment contribution is related to the expected average income of Witten graduates for each degree programme.
No. The ISA is available to all students at the UW/H. If the UW/H offers you a place at university, you can freely choose one of the three payment options (immediate, late or half late payment) before you enrol. Your financial situation or that of your parents is irrelevant. The SG does not carry out a means test.
No. The contractual relationship between the university and the SG stipulates that only payments to the SG are debt-discharging.
If you take up another degree programme alongside your own, you only pay for the degree programme with the higher immediate payment contribution. However, this option does not exist for consecutive degree programmes in the sense of Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. This means that you can study two Bachelor’s degree programmes (or two Master’s degree programmes) in parallel and only pay for the one with the higher immediate payment contribution. However, if you study a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree, you have to pay the full contribution for both degree programmes.
The only exception is the double degree programme in dentistry and human medicine. Here you have to pay the full contribution for both courses of study.
Which decision is financially better in an individual case cannot be assessed by the SG. In the overall view, there is calculative equality between the immediate and the later payment. This means that regardless of whether you pay immediately or later, on average all students and graduates pay the same contribution.
If you earn considerably more than the average assumed by the SG for your degree programme, for example because you become a chief physician in an American hospital, then you may also pay back more than the equivalent of the immediate payment – but only up to the maximum limit. However, if you earn much less because you decide to work for “Doctors without Borders”, for example, you may pay back less than the equivalent of the immediate payment amount as a late payer.
Come by! You can find our office in room no. 1.207 on the UW/H campus at Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50, 58455 Witten. Alternatively, you can also write us an email at kontakt@studierendengesellschaft.de. We are also regularly represented with a stand at the CAMPUS Day of the UW/H (Open Day).