Due to the high number of applications, processing may be delayed.
Informations for students, who only posess the digital semester ticket, can be found here.
- What does subsidy mean?
- Who is the subsidy intended for?
- Under what conditions can you receive a subsidy for the semester ticket amount?
- When can you apply?
- How does the application process work?
NEW HARDSHIP REGULATION valid from 29.11.2022
Summary of changes:
| Old Hardship Regulation | New Hardship Regulation |
| - Assesment limit: 322,00 € | - Assesment limit: 502,00 € |
| - Creditable rental costs: 350,00 € (The rent itself may of course be higher) | - Creditable rental costs: 529,00 € (The rent itself may of course be higher) |
| - Semester fee can be credited on a pro rata basis | - Semester fee can not be credited on a pro rata basis |
| - For Parents: Creditable rental costs do not increase |
- For Parents: Creditable rental costs increase by 300,00 € per child |
| - For Parents: Assesment limit: 322,00 € + 161 € per child |
- For Parents: Assesment limit: 502,00 € + 251,00 € per child |
| - No asset ceiling | - 5.000,00 € Asset ceiling (blocked accounts, which are required for residency, will be disregarded from this) |
| - Maximum of one application per semester (whether rejected or accepted). | - Maximum one approved application (after a rejected one, a new application can be submitted after 3 months). |
What does subsidy mean?
In the case of the subsidy, you will receive a maximum of the full semester ticket fee back. You can find out exactly how much this is on the information page about the semester ticket: Information on the semester ticket
The subsidy is a financial support that is intended to help students who have financial difficulties paying for the semester ticket. Therefore, the semester ticket is not invalidated in this case.
Who is the subsidy intended for?
The subsidy is intended for students who are in financial difficulties.
You should be aware that we only subsidize the semester ticket and therefore "only" pay a maximum of the full contribution for the semester ticket. Another contact point in the AStA for financial help is the student aid fund of Soziales. You can find more information here: Student Aid Fund.
Prerequisites
The basis for this is the Hardship Regulation (in German). § 2a specifies the conditions under which you can receive a grant. We will describe this briefly here:
You can receive the subsidy if your monthly income (average of the last 3 months) minus rent (currently max. 529,00 €) and health insurance is below the assessment basis (in the amount of the citizen's income, currently 502,00 €).
Furthermore, liquid assets may not exceed €5,000.00 during the assessment period. Blocked accounts or financial means to fill them can be disregarded.
You can find a detailed explanation in the Calculation section.
Apply for subsidy
Step 1: Online application
The application for a subsidy for the semester ticket is always processed via an online form. You can apply for a subsidy at any time during the semester. The official semester periods apply:
- Summer semester: April 01 until September 30
- Winter semester: October 01 until March 31
Only one application per semester can be approved for the current semester. Note that there must be at least three months between two applications (both the same and between two semesters).
You find the forms for semester ticket refund and subsidy here.
Step 2: Submit application to us
After filling out the online form, an application is created in PDF format. This application must be printed and sent to the Department of Transport with the required documents.
Copies of the following must be attached to the application:
- If a paper ticket has been requested: semester ticket (copy)
- Rental contract (only if rent is also paid and is to be included)
- Bank statements from 3 months prior to application (the date of application is the date on which the application is received by AStA)
- Proof of health and nursing care insurance (only if the contribution to health and nursing care insurance is also paid and is to be included)
- Certificate of study
You can also submit originals. If these are to be returned, you must enclose a sufficiently stamped envelope.
Der Antrag muss per Post oder per Fax innerhalb des Semesters, für das ihr den Zuschussantrag stellt, bei uns im AStA eingegangen sein. Es zählt der Tag, an dem Antrag bei uns per Post oder Fax eingegangen ist.
The application must be sent by physical mail or fax to the AStA within the semester for which you are applying. The day on which we receive the application by mail or fax counts.
AStA Universität Mainz
Arbeitsbereich für Verkehr
Staudingerweg 21
55128 Mainz
Fax number of the AStA secretary's office (see here)
The further communication takes place via e-mail.
Calculation
We look at the last 3 months before the application was submitted. The date we receive the application is the date of application - not the date you created the application online.
With the bank statements of the last 3 months we do the following:
We add up all your earnings. We divide this sum by 3 and get your average income of the last 3 months.
The only exception to this is income for which there is a "corresponding" expense in the 3 months. These are for example:
- refunds of returned purchases, or
- returns of money lent or advanced.
The important thing here is that we can track the corresponding expense in each case.
We sum up
- max. 3 rent payments, each max. 529.00 €
- max. 3 contributions for health and nursing care insurance
We divide this sum by 3 to get the average expenses for rent, health/nursing care insurance and, if applicable, the semester contribution without the semester ticket contribution.
It is important that the corresponding expenses are in the 3 months.
If by chance, for example, 4 rent payments lie in the calculation period, only 3 of them will be taken into account.
We subtract the values determined in this way from each other: Ø income – Ø expenses. If this value is below the assessment limit of 502.00 €, you will receive the subsidy.
The assessment limit covers all monthly expenses except rent and health insurance. No additional expenses are taken into account. In most cases, all cash receipts are counted as income!
If you have children
Per child, the assessment basis is increased by 50 percent, i.e. 251.00 €.
Per child, the maximum chargeable rent will be increased by 300.00 €.
For marriages and civil partnerships
Married couples and civil partners are assessed jointly. This means that we also require the account statements from them.
The assessment limit is doubled in this case.
Maximum disposable assets
In the assessment period, the available assets may not exceed 5,000.00 €. Blocked accounts, which are required for residency, or financial means to fill them will be disregarded from this.
Example calculations
Example calculation 1
| Einkünfte | Ausgaben |
| + 420,00 € Salary | - 450,00 € Rent January |
| + 420,00 € Salary | - 450,00 € Rent February |
| + 420,00 € Salary | - 550,00 € Rent March (e.g. after rent increase) (Here, only 529,00 € can be taken into account because this is the maximal value for rent to be taken into account) |
| + 500,00 € BAföG | - 111,00 € Health insurance payment |
| + 500,00 € BAföG | - 111,00 € Health insurance payment |
| + 500,00 € BAföG | - 111,00 € Health insurance payment |
| + 30,00 € Birthday present from Linda | |
| + 30,00 € Birthday present from Yasmine | |
| + 30,00 € Cash deposit | - |
| Σ = 2850,00 € | Σ = - 1759,00 € |
| Ø for 3 months = 950,00 € | Ø for 3 months = - 586,34 € |
| 950,00 € - 586,34 € = 363,66 € | |
| 363,66 € < 502,00 € | |
| Subsidy can be granted | |
Example calculation 2
| Einkünfte | Ausgaben |
| + 800,00 € Salary | - 600,00 € Rent January (Here, only € 529,00 can be taken into account because this is the maximal value for rent to be taken into account) |
| + 800,00 € Salary | - 600,00 € Rent February (Here, only € 529,00 can be taken into account because this is the maximal value for rent to be taken into account) |
| + 800,00 € Salary | - 600,00 € Rent March (Here, only € 529,00 can be taken into account because this is the maximal value for rent to be taken into account) |
| + 400,00 € Gambling winnings | |
| + 20,00 € Interest | |
| + 900,00 € Security deposit refund* | |
| Σ = 3710,00 € | Σ = - 1587,00 € |
| Ø for 3 months = 1240,00 € | Ø for 3 months = - 529,00 € |
| 1240,00 € - 529,00 € = 711,00 € | |
| 711,00 € > 502,00 € | |
| Subsidy will not be granted | |
* Additional information: Income that is not designated to pay for cost of living may be disregarded on certain conditions. This would, for instance, be the case if it can be proven that a refunded security deposit from a terminated lease is spent on the security deposit for a future lease. This is not the case in the above example. Therefore, it is advisable to choose the timing of the application so that any deposit repayment does not fall within the assessment period.
Likewise, deposits may be disregarded if they correspond with respective expenses such as the refund for a previously paid item (cancelled orders) or reimbursements for payments on another person’s behalf (order for a friend). This must be either evident or made believable through adequate documents or receipts.
FAQ about the subsidy for the semester ticket
We have collected the most frequently asked questions about the semester ticket subsidy and the answers to them here: FAQ about the subsidy for the semester ticket