Gemeinnützige Initiative für transparente Studienförderung gUG

Lack of financial resources is the main reason for young people to forego attending university or to drop out. Even in a largely tuition-free environment, the costs of pursuing higher education are prohibitive in a country with limited financial aid from government and private sources. Existing government programs only reach 30% of the student population and for many of them the aid is not sufficient. There is only a limited number of university-based or private financial assistance. One root cause of this situation is the lack of information given to students and their families. In a survey, 75% of all high school graduates feel a lack of information concerning scholarships. Many scholarship programs are poorly marketed and little known. 90% of all students applying for scholarships do so for only 1% of the available programs. Of the existing 6,000 scholarship programs in Germany, 20% are not paid out today because of a lack of applicants. This is partly due to the high cost of setting up and marketing scholarship programs properly. Many scholarships are granted by small foundations or individuals that are already overwhelmed by the administrative burden that comes with maintaining a program. Moreover, many companies and institutions would like to offer scholarships, but refrain from it due to the high initiating costs for newcomers to the field for orientation, set up, administration, etc. Beyond the lack of market knowledge, the perception towards scholarships is that they are only for the very intelligent or the underprivileged. The widespread misperceptions have led to a situation where even among German high school graduates with very good or excellent grades, only one in eight students consider applying for a scholarship. Additionally, scholarship-receivers from non-academic and migrant backgrounds are underrepresented, as are students with disabilities and chronic diseases.