Please contact us, we will be glad to help you.

In accordance with the statues, the following application deadlines must be observed:

Only „Landesticket Hessen“:
Winter semester: Application deadline is September 30, 2025 / late submission deadline October 15, 2025
Summer semester: Application deadline is March 31, 2025 / late submission deadline April 15, 2025

ATTENTION: Holders will only receive a refund if the semester ticket has not yet been generated for the semester in question. This also applies if you only receive the Landesticket Hessen after the start of the semester.

All other reasons for reimbursement:
The application deadline always ends on the 21st day after the official start of lectures for the semester in question at Goethe University. For “health reasons”, the deadline of the following semester applies. If necessary documents are missing after an application has been submitted on time, you will then be asked to upload them to the application portal within a subsequent submission period.

You will need:

• Access to an internet-enabled device, with the latest version of the Chrome, Firefox or Edge browsers,
• a digital camera or smartphone with camera function, as you will need to upload selfies for identification purposes
• a mobile phone number to receive application tokens,
• and possibly a scanner to scan documents that you do not have in digital form.

Please use the latest version of the browsers Chrome, Firefox, Edge or the current standard browsers of mobile devices. The Internet Explorer is not supported in any version.

No, you can use any email address you have access to.

If there is a need to change the email address during the application process, you can make this change yourself in your account. To do this, after logging in with your old e-mail address to be replaced, click on your name in the top right-hand corner of www.semesterticket-haertefonds.de, then click on "My Profile" and change the e-mail address in the "Personal Information" section. Once the change has been made, the new e-mail address can be used immediately; your previous password remains valid.

Search the inboxes of your e-mail accounts to see if you can find e-mails from the sender "noreply(at)semesterticket-haertefonds.de". When you start an application, you will receive at least one registration email from us. The inbox where you find this or other emails will most likely be the inbox of the email address you used to register.

If you cannot remember your password, click on "Forgot password?" on the registration page www.semesterticket-haertefonds.de and have an e-mail with a reset link sent to you. Please note that the reset links can only be used for a limited time. If the reset link has already expired, simply request a new one by clicking on "Forgotten password" again.

If you still have problems with the login, please contact us by email at haertefonds(at)studentenwerkfrankfurt.de.

Yes, we even recommend this. The identity check is then not required for the new application.

ATTENTION: In the event of a refund, the digital semester ticket (QR/Aztec code) becomes invalid with immediate effect. However, the digital semester ticket (QR/Aztec code) will not be deleted from your smartphone. Holders of a chip card must hand it in to the hardship fund office or send it by post before the refund.

Exception “Landesticket Hessen”:
The digital semester ticket must not have been generated for the semester in question. In accordance with the statutes is a subsequent cancellation not possible.

The revalidation of the Goethe-Card as part of the refund procedure will no longer be necessary, as the semester ticket will no longer be printed on the card. 

The application portal for the Semesterticket Hardship Fund only accepts three file formats, these are jpg/jpeg, png and pdf.

If your files are in a different format, first convert them to one of the accepted formats using appropriate software. However, please do not manually change the file formats by manually adjusting the file extensions by renaming the file format and turning Example.gif into a file named Example.png.

An application for reimbursement of the AStA semester ticket fee must always be submitted on time, even without the required supporting documents if necessary. If required documents are missing, we will ask you to upload them to the application portal within a subsequent deadline.

Yes. If documents for the approval of the application are missing, we will contact you with a request.

The use of a second factor is a security feature when applying and increases the protection of your account. We will not contact you by telephone without your consent and will only use the telephone number for the stated purpose.

With the help of the selfies and the ID card, the application officer checks the legitimacy of the applicant. This procedure has been chosen to enable a quick and secure digital legitimation check. The ID card and selfies are deleted immediately after the legitimation check has taken place, unless your application has to be rejected due to unclear legitimation.

Instead of your ID card you may also use your GoetheCard as as means of legitimisation.

Yes. Information in the identity document that does not directly serve to prove your identity, such as place of birth or religious affiliation, can be blackened out.

No. Please select only one reason for refund. If more than one refund reason applies to you, we recommend that you choose the refund reason with the higher refund amount. If you can claim another reason for refund, please let us know in the comments field.

From the summer semester 2022 onwards, applications for a refund can only be submitted via the online portal. Applications for a refund by post or by email are no longer possible.

Please contact us and we will be happy to assist you.

Your data will only be used to process your hardship fund application and can only be viewed within the Studierendenwerk by the staff of the hardship fund office. Your data is entered and uploaded via a secure internet connection and is processed securely in a computer centre in Germany. The requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (DSGVO) and the Hessian Data Protection and Freedom of Information Act (HDSIG) are observed.  The deletion of ID cards and selfies used for identification takes place immediately after the legitimation check, the deletion of the other application data takes place one year after the application has been legally decided. The entire procedure has been checked by the data protection officers of Goethe University and the Studierendenwerk Frankfurt am Main.

We store the information you provide in accordance with the AStA hardship fund statutes and the legally defined storage periods.

The application portal sends an automated message when your application has been processed. Automated messages are not always delivered correctly and accidentally end up in spam folders or are deleted. So please do not soley rely on this and check the portal proactively - especially if you have not received a message from us for a while. Not receiving a system message does not release you from the obligation to cooperate.

You can find the portal at: https://apply.semesterticket-haertefonds.de/. To check your application status, click on "Login" on the home page and enter the e-mail address with the password that you used to submit your application. After successful login, you will see the status of your application process.

Yes, but only for the full refund amount, a partial refund is not possible. Please contact us for further information.