Fulbright grant

by Kristin Rachie

Jon Dalton, NIU vice president for student affairs, recently took part in an exchange trip to West Germany as part of a grant from the German-American Fulbright Commission.

As part of the grant, Dalton and 19 other higher education administrators took an all-expense paid trip to West Germany from April 5 to May 7 to promote international exchange of both students and administrators.

The Fulbright grants, which are awarded on the basis of a national competition, undergo a highly-selective screening process.

“These grants were competitive grants,” Dalton said. “It was an honor to be selected and to participate.”

The trip, which gave higher education administrators the chance to compare German and American higher education and student life, was attended by deans and admissions and international agency personnel. In exchange, 20 higher education administrators from Germany came to the United States.

“We went as representatives of the U.S., so they really rolled out the red carpet for us,” Dalton said.

During their trip, the American delegation visited with university administrators, students, higher education officials, government leaders and U.S. embassy representatives.

“It was a lot of hard work,” Dalton said. “We met every Monday through Friday at 9 a.m. and went most evenings until 9 p.m. In the evenings we met with German students who are interested in coming here (to the U.S.).”

“The main objective of this trip was to promote international exchange—not only of students, but of faculty, too,” he said.

While Dalton acknowledged that some aspects of student life were similar, such as alcohol consumption, music and complaints about institutional food, he said the pace of German and American students is different.

The German government guarantees students free tuition for their entire college career, but parents are required by law to cover all personal expenses for students. However, before students are accepted into a university, they must pass a rigid qualifying exam, called an arbitur. After the arbitur, only 22 percent of each age group is admitted. Most of those admitted are from the upper-class. Dalton said only 16 percent of all students admitted are from the lower socio-economic class.

While the American system has financial aid programs to help ensure equal access to universities, students still might have a hard time getting into the university of their choice. Once German students pass the arbitur, however, they cannot be refused admittance to the college of their choice.

Dalton said German students spend a greater amount of time in school than their American counterparts because of government funding.

He said Germany does have a serious problem with their economy and job shortages.

“If they (German students) can’t find a job (after they graduate), they tend to stay in college,” Dalton said. “This gets expensive for the goverment when the jobs aren’t there. Competition for jobs (after college) is tougher in Germany than in the U.S.”

Dalton said that most university administrators, despite the serious funding problems, refuse to charge even the smallest tuition fee to the students.

The lifestyle of the German student is also quite different, he said. Most German students have their own rooms because of goverment funding. This allows more privacy for most German students, whose average age at graduation is 26 years old.

Dalton added that because the students are older, the majority of them live off-campus in “flats.” One-fourth of all German students are unmarried, but live together.

Contrary to university-based student activities in America, most German universities are located in urban areas, and receive the majority of their entertainment off-campus from local discos and restaurants.