Formular Upgrade Semesterticket (Kopie 1)

The conditions for your Deutschlandticket student upgrade will change in October. For the sake of simplicity, we'll call it an upgrade here.

If you no longer want your upgrade as of October 1, you don't need to do anything. All existing upgrades will be automatically canceled. KVG will then collect the money retroactively in the fall.

If you would like to receive the upgrade from October 1, you can now register at abo.kvg.de or abo.nvv.de. You will be asked to upload proof of eligibility. A few things will then change, especially the price. You can find out why below.

The upgrade will then be cancelable on a monthly basis and you can use it on your mobile device.

To date, the AStA has and will continue to have contracts with four transport associations so that you can also travel to Paderborn or Fulda, for example.

The NVV sells the Deutschlandticket for 49.00 euros. This is the statutory price.

The NVV already receives 22.76 euros per month from the AStA. You pay the difference of 26.24 euros with your upgrade. In addition to the 22.76 euros for the NVV, the classic semester ticket also costs a total of 2.76 euros per month for the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund, the Verbundgesellschaft Paderborn-Höxter and the Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe, which you pay with your semester fee.

All "upgraders" also pay this sum of 2.76 euros as a kind of solidarity contribution, although they already have a nationwide travel entitlement with the Deutschlandticket. The AStA does not want to terminate the contracts with these neighboring associations. You can find out why below.

You can find information on the exact terms of the contract in the KVG FAQ under "The Deutschlandticket upgrade offer for students"
Click here for the KVG FAQ

There are several reasons for this:

• The geographical location

Kassel is close to other transport associations and is the only major city in northern Hesse. To get to other cities, you have to travel to the territory of other transport associations. However, this would also be possible with the upgrade and is not the main reason. However, it is relevant in combination with the following reasons.

• Cooperative study programs

The University of Kassel has cooperation programs, e.g. with the University of Applied Sciences Fulda. The universities are not located in the area of the NVV, but events must be attended there, which is why the AStA must ensure that all fellow students can get there.

• Solidarity and the risk of poverty

Reports and studies show that the majority of students in Kassel are at risk of poverty - e.g. the social survey by the Studierendenwerk or studies by the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband. The latter study refers to the situation of our fellow students nationwide. In general, we students were often not considered in solidarity during the pandemic, the cost of living crisis and now mobility in "rescue packages".

This means that there is a significant proportion of fellow students who are unable to pay for the upgrade and are nevertheless dependent on mobility - e.g. due to a cooperative study program. To ensure that these students can travel reliably, the AStA has decided to retain these contracts.

• Usage behavior

Usage behavior since 1.6.23 has shown that far fewer students have purchased the upgrade than anticipated. Around 2500 have bought the upgrade so far. The majority of mobility use therefore appears to be concentrated in the North Hesse area. The AStA is in talks with the Department of Transport Planning and Transport Systems, which is currently evaluating last year's mobility survey in detail. The initial results confirm that this is the case. You can find an abstract of the study on a university website using a search engine of your choice.

• Legal problems

There is information from politicians suggesting that the nationwide solidarity ticket should only be designed as an opt-in solution for all universities. This means that should we as a student body decide to accept the nationwide ticket, the AStA would have to cancel all semester ticket contracts. If the Deutschlandticket - and therefore also the Solidarticket - is not continued, we may no longer have a ticket in Kassel. The AStA would then have to renegotiate and this could mean that there is no seamless solution again and the conditions become worse. How exactly this will be resolved is currently the subject of expert opinions, but above all the political will is needed to ensure a solution for long-term, sustainable and solidarity-based mobility.

• No price or duration guarantee

Politicians, in particular the Federal Ministry of Transport, have not yet decided on the duration or a price guarantee for the upgrade or the total price of the Deutschlandticket. There are campaigns for a nationwide solidarity ticket, which also includes students; however, this is to be linked to the price development of the Deutschlandticket in percentage terms - i.e. an uncertainty that means that the upgrade will also become significantly more expensive if the price of the Deutschlandticket is increased.

As of September, no binding decisions have yet been made by politicians.

Politicians have also not yet decided on the duration. Not only the AStA is calling for this, but also social associations, as people are dependent on mobility - not only for their studies, but also for their part-time job, internship or to be able to participate in social life.

This combination is another important reason to keep the "old" semester ticket.

Nothing changes here. You can apply for a refund of your semester ticket within the published deadlines. There are no changes to the reasons for the refund or the deadlines. The upgrade has nothing to do with the refund and cannot be refunded in full or in part. You buy the upgrade privately and voluntarily. Please refrain from contacting your colleagues, as this slows down the application process.

The upgrade is not refundable via the hardship regulation, as it is a contract between you and the KVG - unlike the semester ticket, which the AStA concludes with the transport association.