Frequently Asked Questions

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).

Early or faster repayments during the repayment period are possible. You can terminate the repayment before the end of the actual repayment period if you pay – including the repayment contributions paid up to that point – the maximum amount stipulated in the contract. This maximum amount is twice the immediate payment amount of your degree program at the time of your enrollment.

The minimum income limit is a safeguard for late payers. If your relevant income as a late payer is not above the minimum limit, then you do not have to make any payment in the corresponding calendar year. The minimum limit is adjusted to inflation and is set at a relevant income of around 21,000 euros at the beginning of your studies, which corresponds to an average gross income of around 30,000 euros.

The principle of free choice of profession (see our Three Freedoms) ensures that you are free to shape your professional future and consequently are not prevented by the ISA from working in another country. In this case, as a late payer, you simply submit the respective equivalent of the German income tax assessment to us.

No. In principle, repayment is not linked to your employment status, but to the amount of your income. The ten repayment years can potentially lie within the period of 25 years after your exmatriculation. However, if your income is below the minimum threshold for the entire 25 years after exmatriculation, you do not have to repay anything. If, for example, you only receive income above the minimum limit in three years within the 25-year period, you will only pay a contribution in these three years. After the end of the 25 years, no further payment claims arise.

The repayment period begins on 1 January of the year following your exmatriculation from UW/H. This is independent of whether you exmatriculate in the summer or winter semester.

The repayment starts when – after your exmatriculation – your relevant income exceeds the minimum income of 21,000 euros. This can be the case regardless of whether you are pursuing further education or not. The actual repayment then extends over the first ten years in which your income is above the minimum limit.

No. Basically, the ISA model is based on a principle of solidarity: everyone contributes according to their means. In contrast to a normal student loan, you are not confronted with a fixed mountain of debt in the later payment or in the half immediate payment. If you have made a contribution above the minimum limit every year for 10 years, you are exempt from further payments, regardless of the total amount you have paid.

Yes, the repayment is capped. You pay back a maximum of twice the immediate payment contribution for your degree programme at the time of your enrolment. The maximum amount is adjusted for inflation over the years to ensure equal treatment of all repayers.

No. The Income Share Agreement is a solidarity model based on the fact that the financially “stronger” support the “weaker” and thus everyone is granted the Three Freedoms of the SG. It is not possible to change the payment option after exmatriculation, as it contradicts this idea of solidarity. However, it is possible to repay more quickly.

After you leave university, we look at a period of 25 years in which you will potentially repay. Whether you repay in one year depends on whether your relevant annual income exceeds the minimum limit of 21,000 euros in the respective year. You will have a maximum of 10 or 13 payment years in which your relevant income exceeds 21,000 euros, unless you reach the maximum amount before then.