A clash has broken out within Germany's CDU/CSU-SPD coalition after Federal Research Minister Dorothee Bär (CSU) signalled that she no longer expects the planned increase in BAföG student support to arrive any time soon. Her weekend comments caused unease, drew an angry response from the SPD in the Bundestag, which insisted on the rollout agreed for the autumn, and ultimately pushed her own ministry to reaffirm that timeline.
Bär insisted her department had done its part. Her house had "set all the switches" for the BAföG reform and was on schedule, she told newspapers belonging to the Funke media group, while adding that she had heard the reform was no longer backed by the governing parliamentary groups.
She also voiced sympathy for the idea of halting it. If people in need of care are being asked to save and parental allowance is being trimmed, she argued, it is understandable not to promise large new benefits elsewhere at the same time. Politics, she said, comes down to setting priorities, and there is little point tabling demands in parliament that are known to lack a majority.
The remarks met firm pushback from the SPD in the Bundestag. The party stood united behind delivering what the coalition agreed on BAföG, said Wiebke Esdar, deputy leader of the SPD parliamentary group, dismissing Bär's comments as simply wrong and inaccurate. Esdar also cautioned that the coalition itself could suffer if the Union were to walk away from the agreed reform on its own.
Under the coalition agreement, the CDU, CSU and SPD committed to a BAföG amendment that would lift the monthly housing allowance from 380 to 440 euros from the 2026/2027 winter semester. The basic support rate for students would then be brought into line with the basic income-support level in two stages, for the 2027/28 and 2028/29 winter semesters. At the end of April, the Research Ministry had said the coalition reached agreement on the funding during the budget negotiations.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has declined to commit to the increase agreed in the coalition deal. His spokesman, Stefan Kornelius, stressed that every commitment in the coalition agreement stands "under a financing reservation," since the budget has to be carried by all parts of the coalition.
Discussions between the government and the ministries involved on how to reach the best possible solution are still ongoing, he said, adding that the government must weigh, amid savings being made across the budget, where benefit increases are only moderately possible or not possible at all. Merz nonetheless views BAföG positively in principle, describing it as a means within the country's training provision to open up paths of advancement for young people.
The government stresses that the reform amounts to far more than money, with Kornelius pointing to elements such as simplifications and digitalisation. Neither the Chancellery nor the science ministry would confirm that the reform will actually include a payment increase. A ministry spokesman said the government wanted to further modernise and improve BAföG, but that he could not pre-empt the question of an increase.
The friction with the SPD was not new. About a week earlier, Union faction leader Jens Spahn (CDU) had already irritated the Social Democrats by saying in an interview that BAföG, like other benefits, was unlikely to rise for the foreseeable future. Bär, for her part, described students in Germany as being in a privileged position, pointing for instance to the absence of tuition fees.
She added that it was no drama for students to work alongside their studies, and that many even gain valuable experience for life and their careers in the process.
Following the SPD protest, Bär's ministry issued a brief statement on the online platform X late on Sunday afternoon. The department said it was working to have the BAföG reform passed by the cabinet at the end of July so it can take effect for the 2026/27 winter semester, in line with the existing plans. No further explanation was offered, even when asked.
The comments drew sharp criticism from the opposition. Left party politician Nicole Gohlke accused Bär of mocking the daily reality of hundreds of thousands of students who already struggle to cover rent and groceries.
Misbah Khan, deputy leader of the Greens' parliamentary group, charged that the government was leaving students to cope alone with steep rents and rising living costs. AfD education spokesman Christoph Birghan accused the minister of a lack of ideas and branded her stance an admission of failure.
Matthias Anbuhl, chairman of the board of the German Student Union (DSW), said the minister appeared to have lost all interest in the younger generation and seemed completely out of touch with students' everyday lives.
Anbuhl also flagged a possible political price. The Union had lost support sharply among young voters at the most recent elections, he noted, warning that the trend would likely continue if the coalition ended up breaking its BAföG promise.
The students' association fzs branded Bär's comments an affront to three million students, and an even greater one to those still hoping to study. It noted that two-thirds of students already work a side job to cover their living costs in full or in part, a direct rebuttal to her suggestion that working alongside one's studies is "no drama." The group announced a protest outside the Konrad Adenauer House.
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