Studying with health impairments

Viadrina reserves up to three percent of restricted study places for applicants who are admitted based on “exceptional hardship” in order to ensure equal opportunities. With an application for hardship compensation, you may apply for immediate admission to a degree programme if you cannot reasonably be expected to wait any longer for a place. The applicants’ health situation will be considered. Reasons for this may include, amongst other things, progressive illness, or disability, but also the fact that the chosen degree programme promises successful professional (re-)integration. If you are applying for a study place with restricted admission, please add the hardship application form to your application. Suitable evidence (specialist medical opinions) must be attached to justify the application. General information on the application for hardship compensation can be found at Deutsches Studierendenwerk. Please contact the Viadrina’s counselling service for students with health impairments for advice in this regard.

An application for compensation for disadvantages may be submitted if a disadvantage existed during the acquisition of the higher education entrance qualification (e.g., due to illness or disability) that impacted grades when applying for a degree programme with restricted admission. You may improve your average grade or shorten the waiting period by applying for compensation for disadvantages. If you would like to make such an application for compensation for disadvantages, please enclose an informal letter to this effect with your application. Just as for the application for hardship compensation, the application for compensation for disadvantages must be accompanied by further documents to justify the application (e.g., school report). Contact the counselling service for students with health impairments or the admissions office about this in time for advice.

Study and examination conditions can be adapted to the personal needs of students with health impairments in order to ensure equal opportunities in their studies individual study and examination adjustments. Such do not equal favouritism. Since the credits to be achieved in a study program are not reduced, individual accommodation must not affect the assessment of examination results. They must neither be recorded in certificates nor in performance appraisals.

The type, form, and, in particular situations, the content of the coursework and examinations to be completed can be discussed with the counselling service for students with health impairments. Since study and examination adjustments are determined individually from case to case, the following measures are primarily examples and not a complete list:

• Time extension for exams and written seminar papers,
• Separate room for exams,
• Additional breaks during exams,
• Extension of the study period,
• Alternative credits for stays abroad,
• Use of notebooks in exams instead of handwritten exams,
• Admission of technical and personnel assistance for exams, etc

All students whose status is reflected in the following definition are legally eligible for compensation for disadvantages:

“Persons with disabilities are persons who have physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments that are likely to prevent them from participating in society on an equal basis with others for more than six months in interaction with attitude-related and environmental barriers.” (§ 2 (1) of the Social Code (Sozialgesetzbuch) Volume IX; § 3 of the Disability Equality Act (Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz))

This provision makes no distinction between visible and non-visible disabilities and includes both chronic physical and mental illnesses. Apart from physical impairments (e.g., motor or sensory impairments), the definition thus also includes chronic physical illnesses (e.g., allergies, gastrointestinal diseases), specific learning difficulties (e.g., dyslexia, dyscalculia), autistic spectrum conditions, and mental health conditions (e.g., depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia).

Applications for individual adjustments of examinations and coursework are submitted in writing to the responsible examination board. The regulations applicable to your degree programme can be found in your study and examination provisions. It is advisable to seek advice from the counselling service for students with health impairments before submitting an application. It supports affected students with the application process and can also be consulted by the examination boards in an advisory capacity.

The Faculty of Law provides online application forms for disadvantages for their respective degree programmes. On the website of the Faculty of Economics there is also an application form. Students of the Faculty of Cultural Studies should contact the counselling service for students with health impairments to apply for study and/or examination adjustments. This applies accordingly to students who wish to apply for examination adjustments at the Language Centre.

In this application students must declare, amongst other things, the measures that are suitable for them and why these are necessary for health reasons. The entitlement to individual study and/or examination adjustments must be documented by a (psycho-)therapeutic or specialist medical certificate/expert opinion. The Counselling Service for Students with Health Impairments may make a recommendation to the relevant examination board, if desired, upon thorough consultation and examination of the certificate/opinion. The compensation for disadvantages approved by the Examination Board is recorded in writing and can be presented to the teaching staff, the Department of Student Affairs, the Examination Office, and/or other relevant bodies (relevant, BAföG Office) as required.

Students are generally not obligated to disclose their medical conditions. Personal data, e.g., on health impairments, is subject to special protection. In accordance with case law of the Federal Constitutional Court, data protection or informational self-determination is a fundamental right. Students can then decide individually to whom they disclose which personal information. Therefore, in accordance with data protection requirements, the diagnosis does not have to be stated in the application when applying for compensation for disadvantages. The impairment resulting from the illness/disability and its effects on the coursework and examinations to be completed are the essential aspects required by the examination board for understanding why a particular compensation for disadvantages and thus the deviation from the study and examination regulations is necessary.

Our information sheet provides information on the preparation of the medical or (psycho-)therapeutic certificate/opinion. Please note that the instructions are not binding. Rather, they are meant to assist doctors and (psycho‑)therapists in formulating a certificate for submission to the examination board.

Information sheet (PDF)

In the event of a leave of absence (e.g. due to illness, pregnancy, studying abroad), students can be exempted from the obligation to pay contributions. The application for exemption must be accompanied by a medical certificate. Further information and the application for exemption from the obligation to pay contributions can be found on the Studentenwerk website.

To the Student Union

The semester ticket is a compulsory component of the semester contribution. Students who are unable to use public transport due to their disability can apply for exemption from the semester ticket. For more information, please contact the admission's office of the Viadrina:

Auditorium Maximum (AM)
Logenstraße 4, 15230 Frankfurt (Oder)
Room 08
Telephone +49 335 5534 4793
semesterbeitrag@europa-uni.de

Under certain conditions, students have the opportunity to receive financial support under the Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG). On application, it is possible to extend the funding period beyond the standard period of study (e.g. due to a longer period of study caused by a disability). However, additional expenses due to health impairments during your studies are only taken into account to a limited extent when calculating BAföG. In this regard, it is advisable to familiarise yourself with the financing options via the so-called integration assistance.

Information from the Deutsches Studierendenwerk on BAföG for students with disabilities

Applications and contact to the responsible Studentenwerk Frankfurt (Oder)

Students with disabilities who require individual personal and technical support to complete their studies can apply for integration assistance benefits for "participation in education" in accordance with Section 112 SGB IX. This can be used, for example, to finance communication or study assistants, reading or note-taking assistants as well as electronic and technical aids or learning and working materials. Further study-related support through integration assistance includes mobility and housing.

Information on integration assistance

In certain cases, health and long-term care insurance companies cover costs incurred in connection with studying. For example, study-related medical aids can be covered by the health insurance companies upon application, provided they are not financed via integration assistance. Students with disabilities and chronic illnesses who have a proven need for care are also entitled to benefits from long-term care insurance.

Information on cost coverage by health insurance

Information on cost coverage by long-term care insurance

Upon application, all students who find themselves in a financial emergency situation have the opportunity to apply for a hardship loan from the Studentenwerk. The guidelines for granting hardship loans adopted by the Administrative Board serve as the basis for decision-making.

The maximum amount of this interest-free loan is €500. The management of the Studentenwerk decides on the granting of the hardship loan. The repayment modalities are agreed individually on the basis of the guidelines for granting hardship loans and amount to at least €50 per month.