Social Counseling

What issues can we help you with?

The social counseling service can help you with most aspects of everyday student life. We can support you with questions about jobs during your studies, housing benefit, exemption from broadcasting fees, internships, insurance or questions about scholarships. We are also happy to help you fill out applications.
Furthermore, we see ourselves as representing the interests of students vis-à-vis the university, employers and landlords. You can get more information during our office hours.

Please note: The social counseling service is provided by students and makes no claim to be complete or accurate. Furthermore, social counseling does not replace personal counseling by other counseling centers!

Notarizations

Hours

Notarizations are carried out Monday to Friday from 12 noon to 1 p.m. in the Social Services Department in room 6. After this time, documents will no longer be accepted for certification.

Which documents can be notarized?

We provide official certifications of documents ( for free) for students enrolled at the University of Bonn, on the condition that they must be related to their studies (e.g. high school diplomas, internship certificates, degree certificates from other universities, language diplomas). Even if you are not yet enrolled at the University of Bonn and need the certified copies for enrollment, the copies can be certified by us. We also certify degree certificates from the University of Bonn for former students.

Please remember: If you would like to have copies of your "Transcript of Records" notarized, the printout from BASIS must first be validated by the Examination Office, only then is it a valid document. You can then make copies of these and bring them along with the stamped original for certification.

We can accept and certify documents in German, English and French. For other languages, the original documents must be translated and certified by an official translation agency or embassy and must be submitted together with the certified translation.

We are not allowed to notarize civil status documents such as birth and marriage certificates. We are also not allowed to notarize German identity cards and passports.

What do you need to bring?

Please bring both copies and originals. The original document and its copy must always be provided. The copy must also include the back of the original document, even if there are only a few characters and it seems unimportant. It is not possible to copy documents in the AStA. Copies are not allowed to be stapled. Please also pre-sort your documents to avoid delays.

If you are unable to come to the AStA in person during the notarization times, it is not a problem for you to ask someone else to do it and have them come by with your documents.

We notarize a maximum of 10 documents for one person per day.

The AStA is not liable for any disadvantages resulting from certifications not received in time or from the non-immediate recognition of our certifications by other authorities. You are therefore requested to have them notarized in advance to avoid inconvenience and long waiting times shortly before an application deadline.

Support offers

Freitisch (Free Dinner Table)

With the "Freitisch" offer, we provide students who are in financial need with the opportunity to eat without charge in the canteens of the Studierendenwerk Bonn.

In order to receive the "Freitisch", you must submit your currently valid student ID, your currently valid ID card and your bank statements for the current month and the previous month.
Applications should be sent by email to: freitisch@asta.uni-bonn.de

Semesterstarthilfe (Semester start-up aid)

If you are a first-year student, find yourself in a financial emergency and cannot afford your semester fees, then this financial start-up aid will help you out of a jam.

In order to receive the semester start-up grant, you must submit your certificate of enrollment/admission, your passport and all bank statements for the last three months (without any gaps).
Applications should be sent by email to: vorsitz@asta.uni-bonn.de

Hilfsfonds zur Unterstützung in Not geratener Studierender (HiFo)
(Aid fund to support students in need)

If you are in financial need, the HiFo can help you. The HiFo is a loan fund of the student body of the University of Bonn. A committee of the student parliament decides on the approval of applications.

BAföG-Consultation

The BAföG advice service will help you with problems and questions relating to BAföG (Federal Educational Assistance Act).

Semester ticket refund

If you are in financial need, already have a ticket valid in the area covered by the semester ticket or are outside the area covered by the semester ticket due to your studies, for example, you can apply for a refund from the Semester Ticket Committee of the student parliament.

Overview of the support services offered by social welfare organizations in Bonn

The various social welfare organizations in Bonn and the region also have offers on a wide range of topics, such as housing, finances, education, integration, addiction help and many more.

Housing counselling

"Wohngeld" (housing subsidy)

If you are not entitled to BAföG you can apply for "Wohngeld", even when being a student! All information around the application itself, requirements for application and amount of Wohngeld you can possibly get: click here. A PDF summary is available here.

Student Housing Bonn

You can apply for student housing via online application here (Studierendenwerke Bonn). Please note that the waiting lists are long and it may take a while until you get a reply. It is also recommended to go to the office hours directly or give them a call.

"Zimmer Frei"

There are some private apartments on offer in two showcases at the lower entrance to Mensa CAMPO (Poppelsdorf). You can also keep an eye out for new offers here, maybe there is something suitable.

Private student housing (sorted by districts)

You can find the website for the halls of residence sorted by district here:

• Zentrum
• Weststadt
• Nordstadt
• Poppelsdorf
• Endenich, Endenich 2, Endenich 3, Endenich Nord
• Dottendorf
• Duisdorf, Duisdorf 2
• Ippendorf
• Bad Godesberg

Particularly helpful is the search engine for dormitories on Study-in of the DAAD.

Single and shared appartments of all kinds

MiWo, FAUSA, wrh, Wohnbau, LEG, Rheinhaus, Viva West, WG-gesucht, Zimmerfrei Bonn, studenten-wg, bonn.studenten-wg, Immobilienscout24, kalaydo.de, gimmo.de, Wohnungsbörse, Immonet...
or via these Facebook pages WG-gesucht Bonn, WG Zimmer frei Bonn.

Short-term or spontaneous

Couchsurfing is a free possibility to find a place to stay for the first few nights in Bonn. Max Hostel in the Altstadt Bonn, Basecamp Bonn and the "Jugendherberge am Venusberg" are cheap Plan Bs, the GZ Hotel Bonn, and the Bonnox are also good recommended places to stay in Bonn.

Apartments/shared housing and temporary stays

You're on an internship in Bonn or you're here for a semester/year abroad or just passing through on travels around Germany? These links to pages may help you find a place to stay for a few days/few weeks or a few monts! zwischenmiete.de, tempoflat.de, zeitwohnen.de. The Facebook groups mentioned below are also a good way to find apartments or rooms. Apart from that you may be lucky via ebay-Kleinanzeigen. We wish you good luck!

More offers

The University of Bonn also offers helpful links to pages or advice under the following link Wohnen in Bonn.

If you want to take your time to compare different housing providers you can do such under this link.

Further useful information

Scholarship reader (German only)

With the scholarship reader you can get an overview of the existing scholarships, their target groups and requirements. Feel free to read it and don't be afraid to apply.

Job boards

In addition to the many general job portals on the Internet, the University and the Studierendenwerk also have a job portal where you can look at advertised positions:

• Job board of the Studierendenwerk Bonn
• Job portal Uni Bonn for students & graduates