What is the income criterion for the GGG Family Oriented Completion Grant scholarship in Germany for Indian master's students?

Before answering the income question, it is worth flagging that this grant is not the scholarship it is being asked about as, and Indian master's students planning around it would be planning for something that does not apply to them.

Why This Grant Does Not Apply to Master's Applicants

The University of Göttingen's own published pages describe the Family Oriented Completion Grant as specifically for members of the Göttingen Graduate School of Social Sciences, known as GGG, who are PhD or doctoral students with childcare or other family care responsibilities. There is no master's level version of this specific grant; it exists to help doctoral candidates finish their dissertation while managing family obligations, which is a fundamentally different purpose than funding a master's degree.

How the 1.5 Times Average Net Income Rule Actually Works

For applicants with a partner, the published rule requires family income to sit below roughly 1.5 times Germany's average net income for the application to have good prospects; the GGG's own 2024 published example used an average net income of EUR 2,765 a month, giving a threshold of approximately EUR 4,148 net a month for the family. Single applicants face a different calculation, where income above the German average net income is deducted from the grant amount rather than disqualifying the application outright. The grant itself has been described at roughly EUR 1,200 a month for 4 to 6 months, plus EUR 400 for one child or dependent requiring care and EUR 100 for each additional child, subject to the specific year's adjustments.

Where Master's Students Should Look Instead

If you are an Indian student pursuing a master's in Germany and looking for financial support, the German Academic Exchange Service, DAAD, runs study scholarships aimed at merit and personal achievement rather than family income, and Deutschlandstipendium may factor in personal or family financial hardship without setting a strict published income cap.

My Advice

In my experience, students researching German scholarships often confuse university specific grants meant for one narrow group, like GGG's doctoral candidates, with broadly available master's funding. If you saw this grant mentioned somewhere as a master's option, double check the source, and shift your search toward DAAD and Deutschlandstipendium, both of which are genuinely open to master's applicants.

This Information Is Also Available On

University of Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen); Göttingen Graduate School of Social Sciences (GGG).