Education Fund

  Thilo Vogel

RWTH Aachen is one of the eleven Excellence universities in Germany. In order for excellent students to successfully study here and with the necessary financial leeway, the Education Fund was founded together with proRWTH in winter semester 2009/2010. The NRW Scholarship from the NRW Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Research and the Deutschlandstipendium from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research are offered as part of this scholarship program at RWTH Aachen.

 

How the Education Fund Works

The NRW and Deutschlandstipendium work according to the following funding principle: every scholarship amounting to 1800 euros, that RWTH Aachen and proRWTH acquire from private donors, companies, endowments, organizations, and associations, is matched by public funds. A scholarship funds a student with 300 euros monthly, that is 3600 euros a year, for at least one year. Scholarship recipients are selected by the individual faculties according to subject.

The Alumni scholarship serves as a living connection between RWTH Aachen students and graduates. Graduates provide a student with an Education Fund scholarship of 1800 euros for one year, thus supporting the university with acquiring active students and alumni for the alumni network.

The Henry Ford scholarship, also part of the Education Fund, is targeted towards very good female students in mechanical engineering. In addition to financial funding of 1800 euros per year, schoalrship recipients recieve a budget to independently organize seminars, workshops, and other activities in a team.

Who is funded?

Students are funded who distinguish themselves through their excellent academic or secondar school achievements and show particular potential. Comprehensive involvement or social and volunteer work is crucial to being funded. In order for scholarship recipients to continually meet the performance demand, a new application period takes place every year. Re-applicants also participate in this.

 

Framework Program

The Education Fund has offered all scholarship recipients an ideal framework program in addition to monetary support since winter semester 2013/2013.

As a result of the financial and personal involvement of sponsors and proRWTH members and RWTH Aachen, funding is accompanied by a program full of social, cultural, and sport activities and events for sponsors and scholarship recipients. The goal is to create a lively network and continuous discussion between scholarship recipients and sponsors among each other in addition to the financial support for students.

Number of Sponsors

The Education Fund survives through the support of its sponsors. Thanks to donations, 612 high-achieving students at RWTH Aachen have been supported. We would like to build on this development and increase the number of scholarship recipients again in the upcoming round. We would like to support ten percent of our best students long term with a scholarship from the Education Fund.

 

We should not merely talk about the future, we have to take responsibility for it.  Therefore, to support our students, we at RWTH Aachen University have created the Education Fund scholarship program.  The Education Fund is to make sure that young people have the opportunity to develop their potential regardless of their background, and that they will be able to take on responsibility and acquire the skills to respond effectively to the evolving challenges confronting our society.  To reach our goal, we need sponsors who are willing to support individual students with a yearly contribution of €1800.  I am glad to contribute to the Education Fund.

Ernst Schmachtenberg, Rector of RWTH Aachen University