{"id":25393,"date":"2026-01-23T18:29:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T17:29:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stw-muenster.de\/geschaeftsbericht\/student-financing\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T16:12:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T15:12:03","slug":"student-financing","status":"publish","type":"geschaeftsbericht","link":"https:\/\/www.stw-muenster.de\/en\/geschaeftsbericht\/jahr-2023\/student-financing\/","title":{"rendered":"student financing"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Student Financing<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Student Finance Department relies on\nelectronic file<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Aljosha Kr\u00f6ger, Head of the Student Finance Department, explains the advantages.<\/strong><\/p>

Since 2020, students have been able to apply for their educational funding online via the nationwide “BAf\u00f6G Digital” portal. Despite this, clerks in the student finance department still had to laboriously print out applications in order to process them. The electronic file should remedy this situation at the beginning of 2024. Aljosha Kr\u00f6ger, new Head of the Student Finance Department at Studierendenwerk and previously Deputy Head for three years, explains the advantages of this innovation. <\/p>

Mr. Kr\u00f6ger, you joined us in September 2023 as Head of the Student Finance department. How have you settled in? <\/strong><\/p>

It wasn’t that difficult, as I’ve been working here for some time. Of course, it was challenging at the beginning because I didn’t have a deputy. But it has to be said that my colleagues made it very easy for me. I received a lot of support from the department and was also well received in my new role. <\/p>

You already focused on administrative and social law during your studies. What excites you about this area? <\/strong><\/p>

The really interesting thing about law is that you deal with rules and also learn to regulate things. I think that it is particularly important in the area of social and administrative law, where the state faces the citizen, that you make sure that you act evenly and sensibly. <\/p>

\"A<\/strong><\/p>

Then the decision to start at the Studierendenwerk was exactly right for you.<\/strong><\/p>

I think so too. I was already familiar with Studierendenwerk M\u00fcnster before I started working here. I studied in M\u00fcnster and received BAf\u00f6G here myself and I think I’m now in a position where I can make a relatively big difference, which I find very interesting. <\/p>

Making a difference is a good keyword. One of your projects is the integration of “BAf\u00f6G Digital”. What have you been able to achieve in the time you’ve been here? <\/strong><\/p>

It was a little difficult at the beginning because the portal was launched at short notice over the weekend. The particular challenge was that we were able to receive applications digitally, but not process them digitally. We had to adapt our work processes as we had to print out the applications ourselves from then on. We then set about developing the electronic file. The introduction of “BAf\u00f6G Digital” was also an incentive to implement this quickly instead of waiting any longer. <\/p>

To what extent should or can the digital file speed up the editing process?<\/strong><\/p>

I would say that we are already processing applications relatively quickly. We usually manage to process complete applications within 2-4 weeks. Unfortunately, it just takes a long time until the application is complete. But I think it’s less about faster processing and more about easier processing. If the paper files are with one person, no one else can work with them during this time. Several people can view a digital file at the same time and also provide the relevant information. This is also a great efficiency gain, especially for the central info point or for consultation hours. The keyword search within the digital file also makes it easier to find specific documents. A file can have up to 250 to 300 pages and if you are looking for a specific document and don’t know when it was received, it can be difficult. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Dann war die Entscheidung, im\u00a0Studierendenwerk\u00a0anzufangen, f\u00fcr Sie ja genau richtig.<\/strong><\/p>

Das denke ich auch. Das Studierendenwerk M\u00fcnster kannte ich schon vor meiner Anstellung hier. Ich habe in M\u00fcnster studiert und hier selbst BAf\u00f6G bezogen und denke, ich bin jetzt in einer Position, in der ich relativ viel bewegen kann, das finde ich sehr interessant.<\/p>

Etwas bewegen ist ein gutes Stichwort. Eins Ihrer Projekte ist die Integration von \u201eBAf\u00f6G Digital\u201d. Was konnten Sie in der Zeit, in der Sie hier sind, erreichen?<\/strong><\/p>

Am Anfang war es etwas schwierig, weil das Portal quasi kurzfristig \u00fcbers Wochenende gestartet ist. Die besondere Herausforderung war dann, dass wir zwar die Antr\u00e4ge digital entgegennehmen, aber nicht digital bearbeiten konnten. Wir mussten unsere Arbeitsabl\u00e4ufe anpassen, da wir die Antr\u00e4ge ab da selbst ausdrucken mussten. Dann haben wir uns auf den Weg gemacht, die elektronische Akte auszuarbeiten. Die Einf\u00fchrung von \u201eBAf\u00f6G Digital\u201d war auch ein Ansporn, das schnell durchzuziehen statt weiter abzuwarten.<\/p>

Inwiefern soll oder kann die digitale Akte den Prozess der Bearbeitung beschleunigen?<\/strong><\/p>

Ich w\u00fcrde schon behaupten, dass wir bereits relativ schnell in der Bearbeitung sind. Wir schaffen es in der Regel, innerhalb von 2-4 Wochen, vollst\u00e4ndige Antr\u00e4ge zu bearbeiten. Leider dauert es nur sehr lange, bis der Antrag vollst\u00e4ndig ist. Aber ich denke, es geht weniger um schnellere als um einfachere Bearbeitung. Wenn die Papierakten bei einer Person liegen, kann in dieser Zeit kein anderer damit arbeiten. Eine digitale Akte k\u00f6nnen mehrere Leute gleichzeitig einsehen und auch die entsprechenden Ausk\u00fcnfte erteilen. Das ist auch gerade f\u00fcr den zentralen Infopoint oder f\u00fcr die Sprechstunde ein gro\u00dfer Effizienzgewinn. Die Schlagwortesuche innerhalb der digitalen Akte macht es auch leichter, bestimmte Unterlagen zu finden. So eine Akte hat bis zu 250 bis 300 Seiten und wenn man dann ein bestimmtes Dokument sucht und nicht wei\u00df, wann es eingegangen ist, dann wird\u2019s schon schwierig.<\/p>

Das Land ist ja auch grade dabei eine eigene digitale Akte zu entwickeln. Wird dann unsere im Nachgang vielleicht \u00fcberfl\u00fcssig?<\/strong><\/p>

Im Endeffekt ist es so, dass ein einheitliches Bearbeitungsformat mit PDF existiert, auf dem alle digitalen Akten aufbauen und egal, wie die Benutzeroberfl\u00e4che ist, w\u00fcrde man die Daten \u00fcbertragen k\u00f6nnen.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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In 2023, the proportion of sponsored students was 17.47%.<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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The country is also in the process of developing its own digital file. Will ours then perhaps become superfluous? <\/strong><\/p>

The bottom line is that there is a standardized processing format with PDF on which all digital files are based and no matter what the user interface is like, the data can be transferred.<\/p>

Where do you see the challenges in the area of BAf\u00f6G in the coming years?<\/strong><\/p>

You simply have to make sure that the process is not made any more complicated. The work, the bureaucracy, which is largely incurred, is necessary because BAf\u00f6G is a social benefit that is linked to need and this must of course be checked. Elsewhere, however, you can also see that BAf\u00f6G still assumes that studies are still structured as in the diploma, which would have to be adjusted. Hardly anyone manages to complete their studies in the standard period of study. It would be good if the funding period was no longer based on this, but on the usual duration of studies. Although BAf\u00f6G is constantly being changed, it is usually only minor adjustments that are made, but the administrative burden often increases precisely because of this. We need to look at how to simplify the forms and the application process. However, politicians need to keep this in mind, as there is relatively little we can do – apart from making suggestions via the official channels, of course. Ultimately, we have to ensure that our structures are set up for the future and that our work processes are designed in such a way that we can work efficiently. Much of what still made sense on paper has actually become obsolete due to digitalization. <\/p>

And finally: If you had a magic wand and could change anything in the BAf\u00f6G area, what would it be?<\/strong><\/p>

With the “BAf\u00f6G Digital” platform, we already have a central application office, but we need a digital interface that can also be used to communicate with students. We still write letters at the moment. But it would be great if we could communicate via the application portal in the future. This would allow us to significantly improve our service quality. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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62 million \u20ac<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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BAF\u00f6G was paid out<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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10.094<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Students were funded in 2024<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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The average funding amount was<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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512 \u20ac<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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190.000 \u20ac<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The BAf\u00f6G rate of the Studierendenwerk M\u00fcnster is as follows<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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