Education Fund

  Thilo Vogel

RWTH Aachen is counted among the nine excellent universities in Germany. Our university's education fund was founded in the winter semester 2009/2010, so that excellent students could successfully and with the necessary financial means, study at our university. The education fund unites two scholarship programs: the NRW Scholarship Program from the Ministry for Innovation, Science, and Development (since the winter semester 2009/2010) as well as the Deutschlandstipendium from the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (since winter semester 2011/2012).

 

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

 

What is the Education Fund?

The same development principle lies behind both programs: for every €1800 that RWTH Aachen acquires from private donors, companies, endowments, associations, and organizations, the public sector will subsidize it with an identical contribution. A single scholarship supports a student with €300/month for at least a year (= €3600). The selection of scholarship winners is subject determined by the individual faculties. 

Students are selected who stand out due to good academic or scholastic achievements and who display particular potential, for example through interdisciplinary engagement. In order for scholarship recipients to continually fulfill this achievement requirement, a new application phase takes place every year. Re-applicants also participate in this.

The education fund survives through the support of its sponsors. Thanks to donations, 196 students could already be supported in the winter semester 2009/2010. In the funding period 2010/2011, 440 scholarship recipients profited from RWTH Aachen's Education Fund. As a university, we would like to build on this development and increase the number of scholarship recipients again in the third round. We would like to support 10% of our best students long term with a scholarship from the Education Fund.