Funding for internships abroad

☝️ The most important information in brief

• You can finance your internship abroad with a student loan or education loan.
• You can also receive foreign BAföG for an internship in another country.
• Some institutions award scholarships that you can use freely.

Gain your first professional insights into nursing and learn how everyday life in a hospital works—a nursing internship is a valuable foundation for studying medicine. The internship serves as career orientation and shows you how things work in a hospital ward. Some of the tasks you will take on here are typical nursing activities that would otherwise be performed by nurses or nursing staff. Internships abroad allow you to carry out these activities in another country and culture, enabling you to look beyond the horizons of your own university in Germany. After all, healthcare systems are organized differently in every country. The nursing internship should be completed before the Physikum, as you will need the internship certificate to register for the Physikum. This also applies if you do an internship abroad with travel4med, combining travel to an exciting country with fascinating experiences on site. This period lasts at least 90 days, but you can divide the internship into several blocks of 30 days each if you want to enjoy some variety. This is followed by the clinical internship. We are also your point of contact for clinical internships abroad. 

We at travel4med are happy to assist students who decide to do such an internship abroad and look forward to meeting other graduates, making new friends, gaining intercultural experience, and gaining new insights into a completely different world. Perhaps you have already asked yourself how financing an internship abroad works. To help you plan your internship abroad in the best possible way financially, we would like to present a few funding options here.

A great way to finance internships abroad is through the Auslands-BAföG (foreign student loan). This funding is particularly intended for cases in which prospective graduates do not want to study abroad for several semesters, but rather spend a short period of time—a few weeks—there. This is exactly the case with internships abroad for your studies! The maximum funding period for internships is one year, and the minimum period is 12 weeks. In addition, the position abroad must also meet the requirements stipulated by German study regulations. We at travel4med will make sure of that for you. However, since you are only eligible for BAföG funding for internships abroad if they last 12 weeks or longer, your nursing internship should be a little longer and your stay abroad for your clinical internship should not be less than 12 weeks. Internships abroad of this length are not usually carried out, which is why this funding option is generally not available for internships abroad. Would you like to complete your practical year abroad? In this case, you can take advantage of BAföG funding for studying abroad:

These funding opportunities provide a one-time payment of €500 within the EU or €1,000 for other countries worldwide to cover travel expenses. You will also receive a subsidy for your health insurance contributions during the internship. The monthly BAföG payments can amount to over €1,000 per month. You can apply for BAföG funding for your internship abroad at the relevant international office. You should submit your application at least six months before the start of your trip.

The most important information about BAföG for stays in other countries:

• Financial support for German students who wish to complete part of their studies abroad.
• Prerequisite: Enrollment at a German university and recognition of the stay abroad as relevant to your studies.
• Funding for tuition fees, living expenses, travel costs, and other expenses.
• Depends on the income of your parents or spouse and your own income.
• Application to the responsible BAföG office in Germany.
• Different levels of funding depending on the destination country and specific living costs there.
• Funding may also be available outside the EU if the course of study is recognized.
• Repayment regulations vary depending on the individual case and duration of funding.
• Advice and further information are available from the relevant Auslands-BAföG offices or student services in Germany.

To receive BAföG, the internship abroad must last at least 12 weeks.

An alternative to BAföG funding is a student loan. You may sometimes come across the term "Studienkredit" (student loan). KfW offers student loans and can be your first point of contact for this form of financing. A maximum of 300 euros per month is paid over a period of no more than two years. This means you can receive up to 7,200 euros. You can apply for a KfW loan via the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau website. On the KfW website, you can also use a preliminary check to see whether you meet the requirements for the loan. You can also ask your bank for a loan for your internship abroad. In addition, there is the German government's education loan for students. A one-time payment of €3,600 or monthly payments of up to €300 are possible. However, this loan is only granted to students who are already at an advanced stage of their studies, such as during their clinical internship.

Information on education loans for your internship abroad:

• Objective: Financial support for students and trainees who are in a training phase.
• Sponsor: Federal Administrative Office (BVA) in Germany.
• Requirements: German citizenship or equivalent, enrollment at a German or equivalent university or training institution.
• Amount: Up to €7,200 in total, in monthly installments of up to €300.
• Interest and repayment: Low interest rate (currently approx. 1.13%). Repayment begins after a grace period of up to 23 months after the last payment, then in monthly installments.
• Application: Online at the Federal Administrative Office; application forms are available there.
• Intended use: Free use for living expenses, tuition fees, stays abroad, etc.

If you are not eligible for either foreign BAföG or a student loan, an education fund could be a way to obtain money for your stay in another country. These are usually investment funds that provide a fixed amount to cover the costs of traveling to another country. After completing your studies, a fixed portion must be repaid. In addition, scholarships can be used, but these are counted toward BAföG. A particular advantage of a scholarship is that you do not have to make any repayments. Some scholarships are awarded based on performance, others as support for volunteer work or social engagement.

Here are some institutions in Germany that award scholarships to students, listed as bullet points:

Scholarship organizations:

• Germany Scholarship
• German National Academic Foundation
• Friedrich Ebert Foundation
• Konrad Adenauer Foundation
• Heinrich Böll Foundation
• Rosa Luxemburg Foundation
• Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom
• Hans Böckler Foundation

Federal states and foundations:

• State foundations (e.g., Bavarian Gifted Education, Baden-Württemberg Scholarship)
• Avicenna Scholarship Foundation (Muslim students)
• Cusanuswerk (Catholic students)
• Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Scholarship Foundation (Jewish students)
• Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
• Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst
• Konrad Duden Foundation
• German Economy Foundation (SDW)

Universities and other organizations for graduates:

• University scholarship programs
• German Research Foundation (DFG)
•  Max Planck Society
• Fraunhofer Society
• Helmholtz Association
• Leibniz Association

These institutions offer a wide range of funding and scholarship opportunities for students in Germany, which are awarded based on criteria such as talent, field of study, social engagement, or financial need. Other contacts for funding programs include the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Erasmus, and organizations that support graduate students.