Financing & Benefits

Financing & Benefits of the Theological Seminary Schloss Bogenhofen

It is often not easy to finance one’s years of study. We are aware of this and want to support our students financially the best as we can.  To this end, we have introduced a series of measures to help you make your decision for study independent of finances and based solely on vocation:

• General Reduction of Tuition: All students from the German-speaking countries (Austria, Switzerland, Germany) qualify for a general reduction of 17% school costs, which covers tuition as well as dormitory and canteen costs. In addition, the one-time dorm fee (€600) is covered. As such, only 80% of the total annual fees for most students remains to be paid. For German students, this is provided annually by the Ferdinand Pieringer Association, as far as feasible.
• Loans: An interest-free loan of up to €2,500 can be claimed per academic year from the Ferdinand Pieringer association. Repayment is to be made after the end of the course of study after a regular salary is secured. The rates are flexibly arranged and very moderate. A combination of scholarship and loan is also possible. This can be considered as a replacement for the German BAföG as well as Austrian and Swiss scholarship regulations.
• Direct Support: Every student should seek donors from their immediate surrounding (church, family). If this, together with the above-mentioned funding options, is insufficient to cover costs, committed students can receive special donations as direct support, as far as funds are available.
• Student Book Evangelism: Through 350 hours of work in the Student Book Evangelization (BE) (approx. 9 weeks in the summer holidays) it is possible for many students to earn a considerable proportion of the tuition fees including living expenses (living & eating) for an entire academic year. There is a close cooperation between the Bogenhofen Seminary and the BE management of Austria and Switzerland, which ensure smooth schooling and work.
• Work Grants: There are limited work grants available on campus. In the case of financial need and good work performance, tuition costs can be reduced by campus labor that is customarily quite flexible.
• Student Missionaries: Those who serve the Seminary of Schloss Bogenhofen as a student missionary for one year receive for the following academic year a 30% discount on tuition, room and board.
• Housing Allowance: Married students who live in a married student's apartment can easily apply for a housing allowance at the municipal office and receive up to a maximum of 300€ per month as a rental grant.
• Cafeteria flat fee: In our cafeteria, the food that a student chooses is not weighed and charged individually. Everything that is offered with a meal is available to each student, including salads, drinks, desserts. There is a fixed monthly flat rate, which ensures that everyone always has enough to eat and drink. We offer standard vegetarian and vegan cuisine, as well as (for a small surcharge due to higher costs) special meals in cases of allergies or food intolerances.

We would also like to underline our appreciation for our students with the following fringe benefits supported by the generous financial support of the Austrian Union, the German-Swiss Conference, the Baden-Württemberg Conference, and the Ferdinand-Pieringer Association:

• Logos Bible Software: The leading Bible software for theologians is Logos (www. Logos.com). Much more than a digitized Bible, this software incorporates an entire library of more than 50,000 theological works and ancient sources, hundreds of translations, as well as original texts and manuscripts, made easily accessible through manifold tools leading to solid biblical research and interpretation. This software has become the standard in theological education, and is also becoming more and more widespread among German-speaking pastors. In order to equip our students with the best tools right from the start, each student receives a personal license for this software once he is enrolled. The package includes literature with a focus on particularly Adventist and biblical-exegetical resources. This is completely free of charge for each student, given the entire study program is completed at Bogenhofen Seminary.  The value of this digital library is around 10,000€. The usage of this excellent software program is taught in an introductory course, as well as regularly in the classroom to ensure high quality theological research and sermons.
• Israel and Jordan Excursion: Every four years (and thus once during the course of each student's studies), an excursion to Israel and Jordan is undertaken in which the most significant biblical sites of both countries are visited. The trip is led by experienced tour guides and lecturers and leads to a much deeper understanding of the cultural, social, and in particular geographical realities of  biblical events. As an integral part of the new theology curriculum, this approximately two-week excursion is covered by the tuition fees and the above-mentioned supporters, so that only a small additional amount is charged to the student.
• Personal Development and Coaching: At the beginning of his studies, each student completes the personality structure test PST-R® and receives a personal evaluation with appropriate advice from a trained lecturer. This enables a targeted promotion of personal development throughout the years of study. Additionally, our students are able to complete the multi-part course of the Leader Intensive Training (LIT) offered by external experts, as well as mentoring training, in which they learn to develop their self-leadership skills and to lead teams appropriately, to carry out projects sustainably, and to support people who find themselves in seasons of change or decisive life phases, implemented by attitudes of appreciative, as well as targeted tools. These present-day coaching methods are complemented by a series of internships designed not only to give prospective pastors a taste of their future service in the churches, but also to provide them with valuable experience in order to make the transition to practice as successful as possible. These include -- in addition to the option of gaining experiences as a book evangelist, which is offered at only very few universities worldwide (administered by the publishers in Austria and Switzerland)  -- sermons, Bible studies, youth instruction, Sabbath school and middle school religion instruction. Moreover, students can participate in a brief ten-day traineeship with a pastor in his district and thus get to know the work in the field on a deeper level.
• Media Department and Livestream: It is important to us to introduce our students to new evangelist prospects and to corporately undertake evangelistic work. In addition to the many opportunities for development in our school community at large, we have placed a special emphasis on media evangelization for several years now. Recently, our technical equipment was up-graded to cutting-edge technical standards. Every Sabbath, we offer a church service broadcast via livestream (on YouTube, Facebook, and Bogenhofen.at). We also produce sermon recordings and special subject series for Hope Channel. It is our desire to instruct interested students in this field of work, as well, and thus provide them with valuable experience for modern service opportunities in our church. Thus, sermons that have been video recorded can also be practiced in the homiletics classroom, and even one’s own evangelistic ideas can be implemented with the technical equipment available at our campus.

We continually strive for good working relationships with all conferences in the German-speaking countries. They are invited to visit their students at the school and discuss student progress and future job opportunities. In this context, some conferences also grant their students:

• annual book subsidy
• reimbursement of travel costs for home-leaves (up to two times per year)
• in individual cases, special financial support for exceptional studies or special commitment of the student