Financial benefits for students

Exemptions from the obligation to pay broadcasting fees are granted only upon application.

The radio licence fee is charged at a flat rate per apartment; this also applies to self-contained shared flats. An exemption is only possible for students as recipients of educational assistance according to the Federal Education and Training Assistance Act (BAföG) who do not live with their parents. The exemption must be applied for directly from the ARD-ZDF-Deutschlandradio-Beitragsservice. Information on exemption options is available at www.rundfunkbeitrag.de.

In many countries, the internationally recognised student identity card ISIC - International Students Identity Card - provides a number of advantages. More information on the necessary documents and addresses for issuing the card can be found on the ISIC homepage, www.isic.de

Students in Greifswald who have registered their main place of residence in Greifswald can apply for the “Kultur- und Sozialpass” (KUS). With this pass you get discounts, e.g. when buying bus tickets, at the municipal library, the theatre Vorpommern, the Pomeranian State Museum and the leisure pool. See also Culture and Social Pass on www.greifswald.de.

Further information and applications can be obtained from the Office for Youth, Social Affairs and Family in Greifswald.

Despite BAföG and housing subsidies, there are students who live on the edge of the subsistence level. In cooperation between the General Students' Committee (AStA) and the Studierendenwerk, a free meal card (“Freitischkarte”) was developed to support them. This is intended to enable financially disadvantaged students in Greifswald, Neubrandenburg and Stralsund to have regular hot meals in the refectory. Deprived students can be supported with a 50 € credit on the Mensa card.

In order to prove that you are in need, you have to enclose the notification of housing allowance or, in exceptional cases, other meaningful documents with your application.

The application for a free meal card can be made at the social counselling service of the Studierendenwerk Greifswald.

Students with a child are often more burdened not only in terms of time but also financially than their fellow students without a child. As a small contribution to relieving the burden of students with children, the Studierendenwerk Greifswald offers the so-called children's meal card in all its refectories. These are free meals for children of students up to the age of 11.

Applications for a children’s meal card can be made at the social counselling service in Greifswald, Neubrandenburg or Stralsund upon presentation of the student ID, identity card and birth certificate. A condition for the granting of the card is that the children must be the own children of students of the University of Greifswald, the University of Applied Sciences Neubrandenburg or the University of Applied Sciences Stralsund.

Further information on how to apply and the exact conditions can be obtained from the social counselling services in Greifswald, Stralsund and Neubrandenburg.