Find opportunities that are right for you to continue your education outside your home country.
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Find opportunities that are right for you to continue your education outside your home country.
© 2024 Freedom Degree
Freedom Degree, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. © 2024 | Powered by Strapi
Sep 04, 2024
Experience of Daria Khokhlova (University of Zurich)
Perhaps the most important issue for everyone who is going to study in another country is finding funding. High-quality education in today's world is gradually becoming a privilege available to only a few, as the prices of study programs are rising and the cost of living in Europe and North America is increasing. But there is good news. Sources of funding for capable students exist and there are many of them, although they are unevenly distributed among countries.
Today we are going to talk about funding opportunities in the European Union and most of all in Germany. Our guest will talk about her experience and how she helps her friends, acquaintances and other interested people to find scholarships on a volunteer basis in the project “Dear Colleagues”. This is Daria Khokhlova, a historian from the University of Zurich, where she is doing her PhD research.
Hi! I am writing a PhD in History at the University of Zurich (Switzerland) and researching changes in Russian school history textbooks from the 90s to the present.
I have a lot of experience in seeking funding for foreign universities. Ever since high school, I have wanted to study abroad and have been thinking about different possibilities. Funding for international undergraduate students in Europe is almost non-existent, so I started this stage of education in Russia and absolutely wanted to get into a master's program in another country (and I did, at CEU). In general, I have a quite good knowledge of what scholarships are available in Europe for humanitarian and social studies. Especially in Germany, because I always wanted to work in a German-speaking context.
In the project “Dear Colleagues” I help people to understand what scholarships are available for their needs, help them to make a plan of action and enrollment. Also in a personal format I help a lot of my friends from Russia, Belarus, Iran to find scholarships in various specialties. It could be biochemistry, it could be digital arts, it could be programming - anything. I try to share this knowledge with everyone who needs help. I understand how funding works in the UK and the US, but I focus more on Europe and especially on German-speaking countries.
Finding money to study in the EU varies a lot from country to country. There are countries where studying is almost free for foreigners, it always costs a relatively small amount of money at the country level. This can be an amount between 500 and 2000 euros.
There are countries in which education for foreigners costs about 10-12-15 thousand euros. For example, study in Norway, in Denmark, in the Netherlands. In these countries the competition for scholarships is always very huge. It is necessary to get first a scholarship to cover the cost of education and such a scholarship may not even cover the entire cost of the course. That is, for example, you can get only 4 thousand euros out of 12 thousand euros of the full cost. For the majority of Russian students, such an amount will not solve the issue, they personally or their parents do not have the money to pay the extra.
As for scholarships that cover the cost of living, there is a very high competition for people without EU citizenship.
For example, I applied for a scholarship at the University of Maastricht (Netherlands) and there was a competition of 1125 international students for 25 scholarships. That's it. This is the reality. Getting a scholarship that would cover both tuition and living expenses in countries with tuition fees is very difficult.
But even in countries where tuition for international students costs a lot of money, there are still scholarships that are sponsored by the government. By the way, in some places such scholarships are no longer given to students from Russia (for example, in Norway and Belgium). There are also scholarships from universities or even from specific faculties. In general, you need to look at specific majors, countries, universities and check everything carefully.
It makes sense to apply for scholarships offered by specific programs if you have a very high GPA [Grade Point Average, a metric that sums up all your grades from your previous degree, usually between 0 and 4, with 4 being the highest grade]. When there is a competition of 1,000 applicants for 25 spots, GPA will be a very important factor, along with other academic achievements. For those who don't have any great achievements and don't plan an intensive academic career, such scholarships are unlikely to be suitable - the competition is too high.
It makes sense to apply for scholarships offered by specific programs if you have a very high GPA [Grade Point Average, a metric that sums up all your grades from your previous degree, usually between 0 and 4, with 4 being the highest grade]. When there is a competition of 1,000 applicants for 25 spots, GPA will be a very important factor, along with other academic achievements. For those who don't have any great achievements and don't plan an intensive academic career, such scholarships are unlikely to be suitable - the competition is too high.
Besides, there are countries with almost free education. These are, for example, Germany, where studying costs less than a thousand euros a year. Austria, about one and a half thousand a year. Also to them can be attributed France and Spain, where studies cost about a thousand to three and a half thousand euros a year, depending on the program. In Italy, too, almost free education, and the cost depends on family income. Almost free education in Hungary. Perhaps this is the main list of countries in Europe, where education can be obtained for a relatively symbolic amount.
Many students go to study in countries where education is relatively cheap, do not count on scholarships and try, for example, to work in parallel to earn money themselves or with the support of their parents. This is the easiest option.
It is more difficult to enter a country where education for foreigners is paid and get there a full scholarship for the cost of education and living expenses. It is slightly easier to enter a country where education is (almost) tuition-free and get a scholarship for living expenses. It's easier to go to a country where education is relatively cheap and get no scholarship.
And speaking specifically about Germany, it's almost impossible to find a scholarship for a bachelor's degree here. It is much easier to find a scholarship for a master's degree, but it all depends on the specialty. For PhD scholarships, of course, there are also scholarships - there are more of them than for Master's degree.
The most important thing when applying for most German scholarships is grades. If your grades are bad, for example, if your diploma has C's and your GPA is less than two according to the Bavarian formula [the grading system in Germany is slightly different], it is almost impossible to get a scholarship.
In Germany specifically, it is difficult to answer this question. Very many scholarships are a combination of different types of funds. For example, in Germany there are scholarships from the state - DAAD [German Academic Exchange Service], and there is a scholarship that is half private funds and half public money - Deutschlandstipendium. There are so many scholarships from foundations, there are also many scholarships from regional governments and Länder that give money to specific universities. So there are many different types of funding in Germany, but probably the biggest part of that funding is scholarships from various NGO's and foundations.
For other countries, it's also hard to say whether there is more private or government support. There are countries where the state helps with scholarships or tuition fees. For example, in Italy it is possible to get a state scholarship on the basis of low family income. There are also scholarships there from foundations and universities. In France, there are government scholarships, scholarships from universities, and private scholarships.
And these scholarships do not always work universally, they may be suitable for some majors and not for others. Some funding is specifically allocated, for example, to STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, a general term].
And another interesting thing about scholarships. There is funding from German NGOs and political foundations. These scholarships imply that you need not only a good academic record, but also a portfolio that includes socially significant research, activism, and involvement in political life. These are the Heinrich Böll Foundation Scholarship, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Scholarship, the Friedrich Ebert, Konrad Adenauer, and Friedrich Naumann Scholarships. All of these scholarships require a B2-C1 level of German. The Heinrich Böll Scholarship is also available for bachelor's degree programs. All other scholarships are for Master's and PhD programs
In recent years, there have been more scholarships for Scholars at Risk [students and researchers at risk - those who have been forced to leave their countries for various objective reasons, often political]. Sometimes they are allocated specifically for Ukrainians, but sometimes they are not tied to citizenship and allow those at risk of political persecution to receive support. In recent years, the practice of expanding Scholars at Risk scholarships has emerged, but the number of scholarships for Russians, on the contrary, is decreasing.
Many scholarships were gone in the first year after the outbreak of full-scale war in Ukraine, but then organizations resumed accepting applications from Russian students. This is what happened, for example, in many German foundations, which in 2022 did not accept Russian applications because the foundations were recognized as undesirable organizations and their Russian offices were closed. Now they have reorganized themselves and accept such applications through their international offices.
The German Academic Exchange Service DAAD has closed many scholarships for Russians. They used to have very many different types of scholarships for different purposes. Now only the basic scholarship for master's and doctoral studies within the framework of the state program is left.
To summarize briefly: there are fewer scholarships, but there are still a lot of them.
You need to apply for funding about a year before you start your studies. So the standard process is to have an application ready by the fall and apply for scholarships in November-December-January-February. In the spring, usually March-April-May the results come in.
Sometimes scholarships (like in Italy) include discounts on dorms. But the problem with dormitories is usually that you have to apply for them very early to get a spot. If you start the process in early spring, you'll probably be able to get in. You have to pay for the dorm in advance with your own money. This is usually the cost of one month plus a deposit for two months on top of that.
The most important bureaucratic difficulty you may encounter is a late decision on your application. You run the risk of not being able to apply for a visa in time. It depends on the particular country, but you should apply for your visa as early as you can, preferably 3-4 months before your intended departure.
Many people can't go to the UK if they get their scholarships confirmed in the summer – they just don't have time to book into the embassy and apply. There are tons of stories of people not getting a visa in time even though they got a full scholarship and tuition funding.
In the whole process of searching for funding, there is a great lack of aggregators that would immediately filter and select scholarships according to different parameters. For example, there are scholarships with restrictions on the age of applicants; you can apply for them up to 30 years old for a master's program, up to 35 for a PhD. Some scholarships require knowledge of the language, like the German scholarships. Some scholarships cover only part of the studies. And when a person starts googling scholarships on university websites, she finds a lot of unnecessary information and unnecessary offers. It is very easy to get lost and confused.
Another problem is that there are not enough aggregators that could select scholarships for different countries and estimate the associated costs of education. For example, a scholarship might be one amount, the cost of tuition in a country might be another amount, and the cost of living might be a third amount at all, meaning it's very different from the first two figures. When you are looking for a scholarship, it is not obvious at all how much money is really needed to cover all the expenses.
This is a great problem. In my experience, a lot of people from countries with authoritarian regimes want to go to any country where they can freely do research, work, get higher education. Where exactly - it doesn't matter so much, people are willing to consider different countries. But they cannot understand which countries are suitable for them, it is very difficult to understand the system of financing in different countries.
As a word of advice, I want to tell you how I searched for this information about scholarships myself, and how to find win-win options for yourself and cut out the unnecessary ones.
I just searched through those European countries that I like. I chose a specific country, like Denmark. I googled the top universities in Denmark and looked at the programs I liked at each university. Depending on the set of programs, I understood if there were majors that suited me. When I found potentially interesting programs, I went to the description of those programs and then to the scholarship information. If I didn't find any suitable scholarships, I googled the specific country, directly using the query “scholarships for international students” and saw what other scholarships were available. If there were none, I moved on to the list of top universities in that country. If there were no suitable scholarships in that country, I looked at another country. And so in a couple of weeks, by selection and simple research, you can find appropriate options and get a general picture of what is happening in this country with the financing of education.
My second piece of advice. If you can't afford to study without a scholarship, apply only to programs that offer scholarships. Why am I even saying this? People often apply to programs they like, but there is no funding for them. Then applicants get an offer [offer of admission], urgently try to find a scholarship and don't find one. Approach the process realistically and you'll save yourself some nerves.
And the third piece of advice. Start the process of enrolling abroad a year and a half to two years in advance, because it will take a very long time to find a program and finances, fill out applications, pass the language certificate, and meet all the deadlines. And remember that any scholarship you get is post facto, after the start of the academic year. So you will have to pay a lot of money for visa, accommodation for the first time and other related things. Save your money in advance.