Applying for a Scholarship: Who Gets Funded and What Requirements Must Be Met?

Most high school graduates and students often assume that only the very gifted receive funding. That isn't true, though. In Germany there are more than 2,000 foundations that award scholarships, and very few of them fund only recipients with top grades. Many organizations set their own criteria. They support students whose parents belong to a certain profession, who come from a defined region, who have chosen an unusual field of study or who are the first in their family to start college.
The only requirement that applies to all scholarships: applicants must study at a state university. That's why even students without an Abitur (the German university-entrance diploma) can apply for a scholarship. Otherwise, the requirements differ considerably depending on the scholarship provider. Even at the gifted-student funding organizations, which are grouped in a program with the Federal Ministry of Education and pay 25 percent of all scholarships, top grades aren't what counts. What's required is above-average performance plus political, civic or social engagement, as well as the personality of the applicant.
It pays for students to find out about all possible scholarships, regardless of what kind of grades are on their report card, how well-off their parents are or how old the student is.

Applying for a Scholarship: When and How Should You Apply?

In Germany there are scholarships that let even upper-level high school students get a taste of university life. A large share is aimed at college students. Once the field of study and the location are settled, applicants can apply for a scholarship. For the scholarship providers, though, your stage of study isn't decisive at all, and students can apply even while already enrolled. There are also scholarships for final theses, stays abroad, special master's programs and doctorates.
Normally, you apply on your own initiative. Since 2010, you can also apply on your own to the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes (German Academic Scholarship Foundation), but a large share of all applicants there are still nominated by professors or teachers. With some scholarship providers, however, candidates can only be nominated, for example at the Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, which is run by the trade unions. Beyond that, the application process varies a great deal: some foundations and associations want only a written application, while others put applicants through a multi-stage process with a selection event that usually lasts several days.

Applying for a scholarship

Applying for a Scholarship: What Funding Does the Scholarship Cover and How Long Does It Last?

The scholarships themselves also differ greatly. They include, for example, grants toward living expenses, a waiver of tuition fees or coverage of book money. Financial support ranges from several hundred euros as a one-time payment up to a grant of more than 1,000 euros a month, for example for doctoral students. With some scholarship providers, non-financial support through seminars, workshops, mentoring and coaching also plays an important role. The funding can apply for one semester, but can also cover the entire course of study. With financial funding through a scholarship, nothing has to be paid back. The only thing some foundations or associations ask in return is engagement from the scholarship holder. With BAföG (the German federal student aid), by contrast, only half of this interest-free loan has to be repaid five years after graduation, and no more than 10,000 euros.