The Deutschlandstipendium is Germany’s national merit scholarship, funded jointly by the federal government and private sponsors under the German scholarship programme law (Stipendienprogramm-Gesetz). Participating universities recruit companies, foundations, alumni and private individuals who pledge €150 a month for a student, and the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space Affairs matches it with another €150. Each university runs its own recruitment, selection and payment, so there is no central application office and no national deadline.
The scholarship is open to students of all nationalities and all subjects at state and state-recognised higher education institutions in Germany. In 2025 some 33,500 students held one — about 1.2 percent of all students in the country — and universities raised €35 million from private funders that year.
Benefits & funding
- €300 per month: €150 from a private sponsor and €150 from the federal government.
- A student receives more than €300 when the sponsor pledges above €150 a month.
- Paid for a minimum of two semesters and at most until the end of the standard period of study (Regelstudienzeit) for the degree.
- Awarded independently of the student’s or the parents’ income, and never repaid.
- Combines with BAföG without deduction, provided scholarship income averages no more than €300 a month.
- Generally exempt from income tax and social contributions under the scholarship programme law.
- Payments continue through a compulsory internship or a subject-related period abroad, including Erasmus+; parental leave or caring duties pause the payments and extend the award window instead.
- Many universities add mentoring, sponsor networking events and direct contact with the funding company.
Eligibility
- Students of all nationalities, at any state or state-recognised higher education institution in Germany that offers the programme.
- All subjects. First-semester students, students in later semesters, second-degree students, master’s students and dual or part-time students all qualify.
- Applicants not yet enrolled may apply if they are about to begin their studies and meet the university’s conditions.
- Students with a refugee background are explicitly included; obstacles rooted in family or cultural background count in the applicant’s favour during selection.
- Not eligible: doctoral candidates, students at higher education institutions run by the federal government, and students at administrative universities of applied sciences who draw trainee pay.
- Another merit-based scholarship worth €30 a month or more rules out the Deutschlandstipendium; a full DAAD scholarship conflicts, a partial DAAD award does not.
- The programme sets no age limit and no nationality or residence condition.
- There is no legal entitlement: each university decides whether to run the programme, and at most 8 percent of an institution’s students may hold the scholarship.
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Education required
High School · Bachelor Enrolled · Bachelor · Master Enrolled
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Application process
- 1Check the official university map (Hochschullandkarte) on the programme site to confirm the institution offers the Deutschlandstipendium.
- 2Read that university’s own call for applications, which sets the criteria, the required evidence and the deadline.
- 3Assemble the evidence the university asks for, covering academic results as well as engagement and personal circumstances.
- 4Submit the application to the university itself, not to the ministry, by the university’s deadline.
- 5The university’s selection committee decides; representatives of the private sponsors may sit in an advisory role.
- 6Funding begins for the agreed period, and the university reviews continued eligibility, usually every two semesters.
Program timeline
Application window
no central deadline; each participating university publishes its own period in its own call.
Selection
decided by the university’s committee after that university’s deadline.
Funding period
at least two semesters, up to the end of the standard period of study.
Review
continued eligibility checked roughly every two semesters.
End
the scholarship ends on successful completion of the degree, and master’s applicants apply again.