German scholarships for Italian students?

While Italy is proceeding with individual actions to the financing of the students in difficulty because of the pandemic, Germany has announced a federal program of interest-free loans for foreign students.

According to the Italian daily “Il Sole-24 Ore“, eligible students may apply for a loan up to Euro 650 / month, interest-free. In many European, and non-European, countries, the sum represents almost a monthly salary, And therefore the German initiative is both generous and far-sighting. As, probably, it will contribute to attracting qualified international students to Germany.

The Federal Ministry for Education, Anja Karliczek, declared that “many students have lost their jobs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. These students are now faced with financial hardship. […] Around two-thirds of students in Germany work alongside their degree, for international students, this number is even higher – around three-quarters”. German scholarships for Italian students therefore also features a welfare state component.

Germany is definitively a key player in international education, topping the charts both as a sending, as well as a receiving country. The attraction of degree-seeking students as a key feature os national promotion agencies. In this respect, Germany’s DAAD is one of the most efficient, and well funded, in the World.

According to Tobias Bargmann, co-founder of the portal MyGermanUniversity, there are today in Germany some 400.000 international students. For comparison, in Italy, there’s less than 100.000. Germany is regularly listed as a World’s top student destination. The country has long been organising programs to attract international students.

 

Photo by Ansgar Scheffold on Unsplash