Making Education Affordable: Meet the Hertie School’s Student Funding Office

The Student Funding Office at the Hertie School is the heartbeat of financial accessibility for students and is here to help you navigate your financial possibilities. Their mission starts from empowering diverse learners and extends to ensuring that financial barriers never stand in the way of academic excellence. Beyond that the office helps students identify financial aid from various private and public foundations, banks and other national or international institutions. Read on to learn more from the Student Funding Office, Ana Perez and Lydia Alcaide van Amerongen.  

Q: Can you please briefly introduce yourselves and the Student Funding Office at the Hertie School? 

A: We are Ana Pérez, Associate Student Funding and Recruitment, and Lydia Alcaide van Amerongen, Student Assistant of Student Funding. Our office was established in 2023 as part of the Recruitment, Admissions, Student Funding and Digital Marketing team.  

We support applicants and incoming students throughout their entire funding journey, from funding applications to building a financial plan and exploring external funding opportunities tailored to their individual needs. We are also responsible for the development of agreements and the continued collaboration with external funding partners. 

Q: What types of support do you offer prospective and current Hertie School students?  

A: We understand that looking for funding information can be overwhelming, which is why we serve as the main point of contact for funding inquiries. We provide overviews of our scholarships and popular funding opportunities amongst our students with our general and regional webinars. We also provide an individualised approach in our communication channels and offer one-on-one funding consultations as well as office hours to assist applicants with their funding concerns. This includes helping with funding applications, recommending external sources of funding, and explaining our agreements with funding institutions. 

Q: What are the main types of funding available for Hertie School students? Can you explain the difference between scholarships, loans, and other forms of funding? 

A: We differentiate between two main sources of funding: the Hertie School’s internal funding options, and external funding.  

The types of internal funding available through the School consist of full scholarships, which are competitive awards that cover 100% of tuition fees, and partial scholarships, which are tuition fee reductions that range from 10% to 50% of total tuition costs.  

External funding refers to all financing options outside of the Hertie School. We divide external funding options into four categories:  

• Awards and prizes include small grants and contests;  
• Loans include Income Share Agreements (ISAs), banks and other private lenders that must be repaid;  
• Loan-Scholarships include all funding schemes where only a portion of the borrowed amount needs to be repaid (such as BAföG); and  
• Scholarships combine monthly stipends and larger grants. In 2023 we developed the Funding Navigator, a tool designed to assist our incoming students in the search for funding options. It gathers local and international opportunities for students from anywhere in the world, intended to make the research process easier and provide an overview of the types of funding options available.  

Q: What are the key steps students should take to apply for (Hertie School) funding? 

A: To apply for any of our scholarships, students first need to submit their programme application. Upon admission, they will receive access to the Funding Application where they can apply for both our partial and full scholarships. A detailed description of the Funding Application can be found here. 

It is important to keep in mind the scholarship application requirements before submitting the Funding Application. To apply for a full scholarship, one is required to submit a personal statement explaining why the topic of the award corresponds to their interests and future plans. To apply for a partial scholarship, the student must diligently fill out the Funding Application for us to understand their financial need. 

To apply for awards offered by external funding institutions, students should familiarize themselves with these options and more importantly: with their deadlines! We recommend reaching out to the granting institutions directly in case of any doubts, and to keep in mind that eligibility and timelines vary greatly depending on the organization they apply to. 

Q: What advice would you give to students who might be discouraged by financial concerns about pursuing their education at Hertie?

A: To keep an open mind and start their search ASAP! There are a lot of options out there and if they start their search early enough, funding may be more feasible than they initially thought. We can’t stress enough the importance of developing a financial plan that considers multiple types of funding on top of Hertie School scholarships. Being aware of the options available to you is the most valuable tool to achieve access to funding. You should be open and explore different types of funding, from Income Share Agreements and student loans to monthly stipends and one-time awards. The SFO team is always here to provide all the resources at our disposal and accompany you through this process. Don’t hesitate to reach out! 

Q: How can prospective and current students contact you? 

A: Prospective students can get in touch with us directly to discuss all funding questions or concerns via email at studentfunding[at]hertie-school[dot]org. We also offer office hours with the Admissions team every three weeks, which they can register for here, as well as 1-on-1 consultations upon request.  

Simplify your funding search and connect with the Hertie School’s Student Funding Office.