Studying does not come cheap: accommodation, food, learning materials, tuition fees, and so on – all cost money.

Financial support may come from parents, BAFöG, student loans, tuition fees, part-time jobs, social work etc.

The advisors at the Studierendenwerk Darmstadt (student services) can help with all questions about financing your studies.

From the 4th semester, the BAFöG office requires that records of achievement are submitted. Please hand in the Formblatt 5 form to Mrs. Zalman at the MechCenter promptly. The dean of studies will then sign it.

Since the summer term 2011, the Federal Government is funding, together with private sponsors, high-performance and committed students through the Germany Scholarship (Deutschlandstipendium). For the duration of one year, the scholarship consists of a monthly support of 300 euro and is often leading to a close contact between the scholar and the sponsor. Some of the foundations and industrial supporters who sponsored the Germany Scholarship for students of the Mechanical Engineering Department have been the following, in the past: Bosch, Lufthansa Technik, MLP, Porsche, Siemens and several others.

In addition to academic achievement, the criteria for selecting scholarship recipients include social commitment and personal achievements, such as a student overcoming challenges or obstacles in his or her social or family background.

You may find further information about the Germany Scholarship and the according application here.

A scholarship is a possible alternative to BAFöG. It is generally intended to support studies with financial aid. The money does not have to be repaid later.

There are too many scholarships available to list individually here. Ten support funds for gifted students have been commissioned for supporting the next generation of scientists. The main concern of these foundations is to discover individual talents and to support them in a variety of ways.

To be accepted for a scholarship, the student must usually display above-average academic performance and social and/or political involvement.

Further information about academic foundations can be found on the Deutscher Bildungsserver (German Education Server).