The academic integration of refugees at German universities continues to progress well. An increasing number are successfully making the transition from the orientation and preparation phase to their chosen course of study. This was revealed by the most recent survey by the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), which has seen the best response to date, of its member universities in the 2018/2019 winter semester.
The number of new enrolments with a refugee background has risen sharply from 3,000 in the previous winter semester to almost 3,800 in the current winter semester. These are primarily enrolments for bachelor's degree courses, but also for master's degree courses and doctoral degrees. A total of 10,087 refugees have enrolled since the 2015/2016 winter semester. The number of individual consultations has increased to almost 27,500. This is consistent with the growth trend since the surveys began in the winter semester of 2015/2016.
"The efforts of universities to offer refugees prospects are clearly paying off," says HRK President Prof Dr Peter-André Alt. "The growing transition from orientation programmes to undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes demonstrates the success of the individual advice in universities."
For context: The HRK survey is a poll, not a statistical census, since refugee status is not automatically recorded at universities. Statistically, only the type of university entrance qualification (German or foreign) and nationality are recorded.
