New Financing Concept for German LLM Students

This post comes to us from Markus Duram at Brain Capital GmbH, Vallendar, Germany.

New financing concept for German LL.M. students with income-dependent repayments

The LL.M. Education Fund offers students from Germany a new option to finance their LL.M. studies abroad. The fund covers the tuition fees for the LL.M. program and – if required – living expenses. Total funding of up to €50.000 can be provided (exceptions with higher funding are possible).

Brain Capital LLM FundIn return, students commit themselves to pay a certain percentage of their income back to the fund over ten years after completion of their studies. If in any year income falls below a level of € 30,000, the obligation to pay is postponed. Thus, students with higher income repay more, balancing lower repayments from students with lower income. Thus, the concept makes sure that no student is overburdened (solidarity principle).

There is no minimum repayment, i.e. if a student has no significant income after graduation perhaps because of illness, no repayments are necessary. The maximum payment is limited to twice the amount provided to the student plus inflation. The percentage rate for the annual income-dependent payments is defined during the application process and depends on the sum provided by the funds and the student’s profile (for examples, see http://www.llm-bildungsfonds.de/en/).

In the 2014 edition of the student loan test by CHE (a German think-tank sponsored by the German Rectors’ Conference and Bertelsmann) the LL.M. Education Fund was awarded 4 out of 5 stars – the best result of any student loan program tested. CHE emphasized that the fund offers easy access to funding, has high capacity limits, reduces risks and gives the students a lot of flexibility.

The financing program is offered by Brain Capital, a German student loan company that has provided income-dependent loans to more than 1,000 students in Germany. It has been founded by students at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, one of the leading German business schools. The program has been developed in close cooperation with the German-American Lawyers Association (DAJV), the largest binational lawyers association in Germany with more than 2,800 members.

To apply for this financing program, students send their CV, certificates and a letter of motivation with details on their intended LL.M. studies to Brain Capital. Afterwards Brain Capital invites applicants to an interview. Participants must be citizens of the Euro-area and must have completed at least their first state examination in Germany, when they join the LL.M. program. Securities and financial guarantees are not required. The program is not limited to certain universities, but may be used to finance any LL.M. outside of Germany. Funding can be provided on very short notice.

The fund still accepts applications from students who start their LL.M. in fall 2014.

Further information on the application process is available online.

 

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Top Personal Statements for LL.M. Programs, our new eBook, is the only resource on the market that helps you gain insight into the “black box” of the LL.M. admissions process by revealing real examples of winning LL.M. personal statements.

Boost your personal statement writing skills and increase your chances of admission to a top LL.M. program!

  • 10 full-length samples that worked for applicants at elite U.S. and U.K. law schools
  • Covers all major areas of law, including corporate, commercial, human rights, and international law
  • Instant and secure digital download (PDF)