Ahead of discussions on the Germany Scholarship to take place today in the Federal Cabinet, the HRK, the Federation of German Industries (BDI) and the Confederation of German Employers' Associations (BDA) have issued the following statement:
We support the Germany scholarship. It is a model from which students, universities and funding providers can all benefit equally.
It offers companies an excellent opportunity to identify potential future specialists and to build up a relationship with them early on. Universities can direct funding at their high-performing students and work more closely with regional businesses in particular. Regarding the distribution of recipients of the scholarship across the social spectrum, the data from the evaluation commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research is encouraging. The goal must be to increase the number of students participating in the various regions while keeping the cost to the universities at a reasonable level.
BAföG and the Germany Scholarship are complementary and must not be set in opposition to each other. Around a quarter of the students receiving the Germany Scholarship are also BAföG recipients, which reflects the proportion of BAföG recipients among the student population as a whole.
The universities and business explicitly endorse the view that performance and social commitment are crucial to an award of the Germany Scholarship. The Germany Scholarship helps students to acquire practical experience and broadens their options for a future career, making an important contribution to their understanding of the employment market during their studies.
