Online Survey on the BAföG Service

In November and December 2017, after a four-year hiatus, the Dresden Studentenwerk conducted its seventh online survey on the topic of student financing. A total of 2,705 students from universities in Dresden, Zittau, and Görlitz participated.

The Dresden Studentenwerk wanted to know how students rated the work of the BAföG (German financial aid for students) office. Various criteria, such as waiting times before a consultation, availability by phone, and the demeanor and friendliness of the staff members, were provided for evaluation. The clarity of in-person counseling (2.22) and the staff’s subject-specific competence (2.26) received good ratings. The worst ratings were given to the case workers’ office hours (3.05) and the length of the processing period (3.21).

The survey analysis revealed that only 84% of all respondents had already applied for BAföG. 76% of respondents had already researched BAföG before submitting their application. To do so, 1,653 participants used the Dresden Studentenwerk’s website. Only 20% of all respondents had already sought advice at the BAföG Office’s service desk. Only 46% took advantage of a personal consultation with their assigned case worker.

It is evident that in-person contact is generally on the decline. It would be desirable for students to take advantage of in-person consultations more often during the case workers’ office hours or at the service office. Through direct conversation, problems that lead to delays in processing applications can often be resolved more quickly.

Finally, students were asked specifically: “What do you find good?” and “What do you think could be improved?”

Some positive comments included:

• Response letters that specify quite precisely what is missing
• the fact that this type of student financial aid even exists in Germany
• short wait times and accessibility via public transportation
• that the staff are also very good at being reached by email
• that (my) BAföG applications were always processed quickly
• the professionally competent yet friendly manner (toward me), even when I asked my fifth question on the subject

Some of the critical comments:

• The case workers’ areas of responsibility change too often
• Processing time
• BAföG (German financial aid for students) isn’t enough to live on in big cities

Many respondents felt that, in general, the accessibility of the case workers could be improved. This includes both the ability to reach case workers by phone and communication via email, which contradicts some of the positive comments. A large number of survey participants noted that having just one afternoon opening day per week is insufficient.

The Office for Student Financial Aid is working to address some of the criticisms. As a first step, an additional office hour will be introduced. Starting May 8, an extra office hour will therefore be offered every Tuesday from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. In the future, anyone seeking assistance will be able to meet with their case worker during the following hours: Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., as well as Thursdays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Since the case workers will be available in person on Tuesdays both in the morning and in the afternoon, the service office will remain closed on that day.

Unfortunately, it is currently not possible to implement the wish expressed by many survey participants for unrestricted email contact between the Office for Educational Assistance and BAföG (German financial aid for students) recipients. Since only unencrypted emails can be sent at this time, the protection of applicants’ data cannot be guaranteed. Anyone who has no issue with the lack of encryption can, of course, still communicate with the BAföG (German financial aid for students) Office via email. However, they must first give their consent by completing and signing the declaration form titled “General Conditions for the Use of Email for Communication with the 'Studentenwerk' (student union) in Dresden.” Anyone interested can obtain both the declaration form and further information on this matter from their case worker or at the BAföG (German financial aid for students) Office’s service desk.

In the future, additional suggestions for improvement from BAföG recipients will be implemented. We will report on this here in due course. The 'Studentenwerk' (student union) would like to thank everyone who participated in the online survey!

Results of the Online Survey on Student Financing

Source: SPIEGEL-EI (published in Issue 02/2018 (May 7, 2018, through May 27, 2018))