Studienstiftung

The German Academic Scholarship Foundation (German: , or ''Studienstiftung'' for short) is Germany's largest and most prestigious scholarship foundation. According to its statutes, it supports "the university education of young people who, on account of their exceptional academic or artistic talents and their personalities, can be expected to make an outstanding contribution to society as a whole". The ''Studienstiftung'' is non-political, non-denominational and ideologically independent. Its headquarters are located in Bonn; it also has an office in Berlin. The current president is University of Bonn director , and its patron ('''') is the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

The ''Studienstiftung,'' like 12 other scholarship foundations (), is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, with funds from the federal government, the German federal states and local authorities, numerous foundations and businesses as well as numerous private donors. In 2023, the ''Studienstiftung's'' budget was over €126 million. Between 1925 and 2024, it has supported over 100,000 students and doctoral candidates; , it had over 84,000 alumni worldwide.

The selection process is extremely rigorous and only those students who show outstanding academic and personal promise are chosen. The Studienstiftung awards scholarships to fewer than 0.5% of German students. It is sometimes referred to as Germany's "secret elite university". Provided by Wikipedia