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Once you're actually convinced to have an advanced degree from Europe but need help in financing your studies, the German Academic Exchange Service or DAAD would be most helpful. It's easy to get tempted to get support from other seemingly more mobile (guaranteed three countries) and more generous (rumor is stipend can be as high as 2,000 EUR a month) but here's 5 reasons why DAAD is better.
1. A DAAD scholarship is comprehensive.
When I mean comprehensive, aside from the monthly stipend, it covers return airfare from your home country to Germany, global travel and health insurance, and at least online basic German language training. In my case, I also had classroom language training upon arrival in Germany.
I had to go home after the 3rd month for a family emergency and DAAD covered the airfare based on a certain ceiling amount. My program also required field work for our graduate thesis and although it did not have to be the Philippines, we were highly encouraged to go home and study development issues in our countries. That meant I was able to go home every year with DAAD funding.
The insurance coverage of DAAD is also very comprehensive. Although it explicitly says no dental treatments, the fine print practically covers every health need. Emphasis on need. During the course of my scholarship, all my health needs in the Philippines, Switzerland, and Germany were covered by the insurance.
2. A DAAD scholarship is generous not just financially but in terms of opportunities.
Ok, I'd be honest, the monthly stipend is not as high as other scholarship providers but it is more than enough for living expenses in Germany. The only contribution a student pays is a small fee (about 265EUR per year) to the university that also includes a semester ticket that can be used to travel the entire "state/province" where the university is located.
My course, MA in Development Management, was a DAAD-funded program so all my other classmates who were not DAAD scholars (we were only 10 scholars in a class of almost 30) were also funded during the events DAAD covered. We all had compulsory summer courses in Berlin (twice!) and Cape Town, and other seminars so DAAD also paid for the transport and accommodation then. Our course also required an internship (not all DAAD courses do) and upon our request, we also had transport support to move to another German city and return to our university town because everybody knows how expensive rail travel is.
But as scholars, we were also required to attend DAAD-only events. During my time, I attended meetings in Bonn for Millennium Express, in Heidelberg for the Change Agents - The Faces of Change conference, and in Dortmund for the annual geographical meeting for scholars.
3. DAAD has an extensive alumni network.
I can't really say DAAD's network is better than other programs but having started in 1925 and having supported close to 51,000 foreigners, that says a lot. For more information on DAAD's support, read this tracer study.
Beyond the classmates, I met so many students and young professionals from all those meetings and courses. My DAAD scholarship allowed me to take a course at University of Duisburg-Essen with a lecturer from the German Development Institute so we have fostered relationships there too. Our course is also part of a consortium of postgraduate courses on Economics so we also have a network with students from Berlin's HTU and Uni Leipzig. I can go on and on. Abroad, our bond with our twin program in Cape Town is as strong as ever. Here in the Philippines, I constantly meet former DAAD scholars, have very cordial relations with the DAAD team, and have been received well by development professionals in the German community.
4. DAAD courses are mobile.
Some scholarship and courses are promoted and sought because of mobility. While DAAD programs and funding, I believe, are sought mostly for academic and technical reasons, it is a bit of a surprise that it actually provides a lot of mobility. In the course of more than two years, I think I moved more than 11 times. For sure I moved cities every 3 months or so. I lived in three continents (Europe, Africa, Asia) during my studies. In Europe, I lived in Bochum, Hamburg, and Geneva, then add the countless meetings and seminars, which meant we slept on a different bed for at least a night or more.
5. DAAD can provide opportunities even after graduation.
I'm not referring to jobs you can get by merely being a DAAD scholar or through its network or a graduate of a German university. I do not have anecdotes for that. But DAAD administers the Carlo Schmid Program (CSP) - internship placements originally intended just for Germans but now offered to non-German DAAD scholars like me under Line C. Thanks to CSP, I was assigned to the UN Joint Inspection Unit in Geneva, Switzerland for 6 months.
So you can just imagine how full my DAAD scholarship was for more than 2 years. Of the five, I didn't even expound on the academic gains from studying in Germany but that deserves an entirely different post. I do hope this informs your scholarship selection process as this information if often vague or omitted in standard public data.
