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Information about available discounts
for students under 30 years old who are married with children
Based on Section 39 (1) and (2) of the National Higher Education Act and under the amendment to Act CCIV of 2011 on National Higher Education, which entered into force on February 1, 2025, married students who are raising children and pursuing studies at the vocational, undergraduate, master’s, undivided, and doctoral levels of higher education may benefit from a subsidy period discount from starting in the spring semester of the 2024/2025 academic year.
Who does the amendment apply to?
Support time discount:
- married,
- raising a child,
- students under the age of 30.
Raising a child means any student exercising parental supervision over a child. The student is entitled to the support time discount even if they have already exhausted the otherwise available support timeframe at the time of reclassification or upon establishing a new student status by admission.
The same right applies to:
- persons with the right of free movement and residence under a separate law,
- stateless persons, refugees, protected persons, asylum seekers, admitted persons, persons with permanent residence rights living in the territory of Hungary who are not covered by point a),
- a foreigner who is subject to the same treatment as Hungarian citizens under
an international agreement, - citizens of those countries in which Hungarian citizens can use the higher education services of the given state based on the principle of
reciprocity, - a person who falls under the scope of the Act on Hungarians living in neighboring states ( Preference Act ) but does not have Hungarian citizenship or the right of free movement and residence,
- a third-country national defined in the Act on the General Rules for the Entry and Residence of Third-Country Nationals - who declares himself to be of Hungarian nationality - provided that he is not subject to the preferential treatment law and does not hold Hungarian citizenship,
- a third-country national holding a permit (EU Blue Card ) for employment and residence requiring a high level of qualification,
- third-country nationals holding a consolidated permit.
Who does not qualify for the benefit period discount?
Married students who meet the legal requirements, are raising a child, and are under 30 years old cannot be reclassified if they are enrolled in:
- in partial knowledge program or
- in specialized training.
folytat tanulmányokat.
The preferential rules do not apply retroactively; they apply only to students with student status when reclassifying to the spring semester of 2024/2025.
I. Discount types
1. Support time discount for state scholarship students
According to Section 47(6)(g) of the Nftv., for married students who are under 30 with children and are currently continuing their studies with a state scholarship, the semester(s) affected by the discount does not need to be taken into account when calculating the support period, i.e., it does not reduce the individual support period available to them.
Crediting the preferential support period is not automatic. It is based on the datasheet and supporting certificates submitted by the student.
Claim eligibility in the Neptun system by filling out the “SOE_9_11 - Datasheet for married students under the age of 30 with children” form.
Attachments to upload:
- marriage certificate,
- child( ren )'s birth certificate(s)
- or adoption decision(s) of child(ren)
Submit attachments together.
The submission deadline for the spring semester of the 2024/2025 academic year is March 10, 2025.
How long is the student entitled to the support period discount?
- The period during which the student is entitled to a support period discount lasts from the semester preceding the semester following the student’s 30th birthday, taking into account that the student’s birthday does not necessarily fall in one of the semesters lasting a maximum of five months, so essentially the semester following the student’s birthday, but not including the birthday, is the one to which the discount no longer applies.
- The student support period benefit also ceases upon the death of the child or the loss of parental custody. Therefore, the semester following the date of loss of parental custody or the death of the child, excluding this date, is the first period to which the benefit does not apply.
- A student’s divorce does not affect their eligibility for the support period discount.
- The support period discount will cease if the student does not continue his/her studies as a Hungarian state scholarship holder, i.e., either he/she is reclassified to self-funded training for academic reasons, or because the student does not make the declaration on accepting the conditions of the training under Section 48/D. (2) of the National Education Act or withdraws the declaration.
What happens if the student's subsidy period benefit ends?
After the subsidy period benefit ends, a Hungarian state scholarship student will continue his/her studies as a Hungarian state scholarship student, so in general, there is no need to reclassify him/her to self-funded education; however, his/her active semesters will be included in the number of subsidized semesters from then on.
However, such a student must be reclassified to self-funded training if he or she has already exhausted the subsidized timeframe available to him or her when the subsidy period discount ends.
2. Reclassification of self-funded students into state scholarship programs
According to Section 48 (5) of the Nftv., self-financed, married students under the age of 30 who are raising children must be reclassified to a state scholarship training form from the semester following the date of birth or adoption of their child or the date of their marriage if they have not yet reached the age of 30 on the starting date of the given semester. Semesters used during the eligibility period following the reclassification do not reduce the individual support time.
Reclassification is not automatic but is based on the datasheet and supporting documents submitted by the student.
Claim eligibility in the Neptun system by filling out the “SOE_9_11 - Datasheet for married students under the age of 30 with children” form.
Attachments to upload:
- marriage certificate,
- child( ren )'s birth certificate(s)
- or adoption decision(s) of child(ren)
Submit attachments together.
The submission deadline for the spring semester of the 2024/2025 academic year is March 10, 2025.
How long is the authorization valid?
-
The semester in which the person turns 30 is the last semester of eligibility.
- The rules for reclassification based on academic achievement apply, meaning that for such reasons, it is possible to transfer/return to a self-funded training program.
The above discount does not affect the possibility of reclassification to self-funded training pursuant to Section 48 (2) of the National Education Act.
3. Increasing the number of consecutive passive semesters
Under Section 45 (1a) of the Nftv., a student may suspend his/her student status for four consecutive semesters if he/she is paid an infant care fee, a childcare fee, or – concerning parental leave – a salary.
Based on the request, in the case of a student raising a child who meets the legal requirements, the number of consecutive passive semesters can be increased to a maximum of four semesters, regardless of the student's marital status and age.
Claim eligibility in the Neptun system via the “SOE_9_10 - Datasheet for childcare certification” form.
The submission deadline for the spring semester of the 2024/2025 academic year is March 10, 2025.
II. Information about other benefits for students raising children
1. Possibility of a preferential study schedule for students raising children under 14 years of age
Under Section 49 (11) of the Nftv., the higher education institution may, in its regulations, allow a student raising a child under the age of fourteen to abstain from lectures and seminars to care for his or her child, in such a way that the absence does not lead to exemption from the basic academic requirements of the given major. The higher education institution may establish additional favorable provisions in its regulations compared to the recommended curriculum.
Claim eligibility in the Neptun system using the “SOE_1_08 – Application for preferential study arrangements” form.
The submission deadline for the spring semester of the 2024/2025 academic year is March 15, 2025.
