Studying while caring for relatives can be a real challenge, as it involves balancing family, studies, and possibly even a part-time job. The following page provides an overview of the options available to you to successfully complete your studies at JGU as a student caregiver. We have summarized the most important information for you below. As the central point of contact for work-life balance at JGU, we are happy to support and advise you. No guarantee is given for the completeness and accuracy of the information. You can also find helpful information in our brochure “Studieren und Angehörige pflegen” from CHE.
You can take a leave of absence for up to six semesters due to caring for a close relative. Please note that you must submit a new application through JoGuStINe to the Student Service Center for each semester. Whether a leave of absence is sensible for you depends on your individual situation.
What Does a Leave of Absence Mean for My Studies?
A leave of absence has the advantage that semesters on leave are not counted towards your subject semesters. So if there are deadlines in your studies that stipulate that you must have completed a certain number of credits or finished your studies by a certain semester, semesters in which you were on leave will not be counted towards this deadline. However, during a semester on leave, you cannot attend courses or take exams (exceptions are state exams such as the Physikum). During a semester on leave, students generally do not receive BAföG, but there may be the possibility to apply for social benefits. Please contact the Amt für Ausbildungsförederung in good time with questions about your BAföG.
During the leave of absence, you continue to pay the semester fee and remain enrolled at JGU. You can continue to use offers such as ZDV courses or AHS services during this time.
Deadlines
The deadline for a leave of absence is the same as the re-registration deadline for the respective semester. In any case, you must submit your application before the start of the semester for which you wish to take leave (start of summer semester: April 1 / start of winter semester: October 1). A leave of absence during the current semester is only possible in exceptional cases, namely when unexpected events prevent you from continuing your studies properly. The same applies to leaves of absence in the first semester. You can obtain information on this from the Student Service Center.
Caring for relatives can lead to situations where you are unable to meet certain deadlines or standard study periods. Therefore, you should consider early on whether taking a leave of absence for a few semesters might be sensible for you. The Hochschulgesetz RLP (Higher Education Act of Rhineland-Palatinate) stipulates that extensions and interruptions of study periods are not taken into account if they were due to the care of dependent relatives (§26 (5)). Please contact your Student Advising and Examination Office early on regarding the exact implementation of corresponding regulations in your field of study.
Writing time extensions
Whether you can be granted an extension of writing time due to your caregiving activities is always decided on a case-by-case basis and depends on your individual situation as well as the corresponding regulations in your study and examination regulations. Please contact your responsible Student Advising or Examination Office if you have any questions.
Missing exams
If, due to your caregiving activities, you cannot participate in exams, you should inquire in advance with your Student Advising or Examination Office about whether and how you can be excused from the exam. If so, you usually need a medical certificate and must deregister from the exam or report sick within the specified deadlines. However, you must inquire about the exact regulations and specific procedure at your Student Advising or Examination Office.
As a caregiver, you often have smaller time windows within which it is possible for you to attend courses. Therefore, some subjects offer student caregivers preferential admission to courses to avoid delays in the course of study that arise from scheduling that is unfavorable for caregivers. To find out if your subject offers preferential admission to courses for you and how you can apply for it, please contact your Student Advising Office. There is no entitlement to preferential admission.
If your dependent relative is acutely ill and you therefore cannot participate in exams or write your term paper, you must inquire with your respective Student Advising or Examination Office whether it is possible to deregister from the exam or get an extension for your writing time. Some subjects have their own forms and procedures for cases where students cannot participate in exams due to the illness of a relative, so we recommend inquiring early with your Examination Office about how to proceed in such a case.
As part of the RMU network, the three Family Services Centers of JGU, GU Frankfurt, and TU Darmstadt offer a joint digital exchange specifically for student caregivers from the three universities. The 1.5-hour meetings take place regularly via Zoom. If you are interested, you can find more information here.
For students and employees of JGU who care for relatives or close persons with dementia, we offer regular meetings on campus for exchange and networking. The meetings are currently facilitated by Carola Beck from PflegeSelbsthilfe RLP. If you want to learn more, you can get information here.
