"It's a very demanding process in a couple ofstages," said Armin Schmiedeberg, a graduate ofthe program. "You have to have a finished Germandegree to apply and this has to be an honorsdegree."
Schmiedeberg said the McCloy scholarships weremeant "to establish a linkage" between his countryand the U.S., and predicted that interest in theprogram would increase following Germanreunification.
"I think that there will be some moreapplications, especially from East Germany,"Schmiedeberg said.
He also said that the competition would beslightly more difficult for the East Germans,because their educational system was notequivalent to the West German one. As a result,Schmiedeberg said, program officials should becareful to make the scholarships are accessible tothem.
"Every German who has achieved what the boardis looking for should be able to study here," thedoctoral candidate said.
The McCloy program was established in 1982 by agrant from the Volkswagen Foundation, analogous,Schmiedeberg says, to the American FordFoundation. Because the German foundation awardsonly one donation to each charity it gives to, itsgrant money will be gone by 1992.
Currently, the Kennedy School is attempting toraise $6.5 million to maintain the program beyond1992. Schmiedeberg said that James Cooney,executive director of the program, hopes to obtaingrants both from American and German sources.
Schmiedeberg said that Edzart Reuter, chiefexecutive officer of the Daimler-Benz company,which produces Mercedes-Benz cars, would beresponsible for fundraising in Germany.
"The goal is to establish a 50/50 financing,"Schmiedeberg said.