The proportion of degree programmes on offer subject to admission restrictions remains stable at around 40 per cent. This is a finding from a survey by the German Rectors' Conference (HRK).
In the current 2019/2020 winter semester, admission restrictions applied to 42.3 per cent of the around 10,500 undergraduate programmes on offer. This means that the proportion has remained virtually the same (2018/2019: 42.1 per cent). To compare: ten years ago, in the 2009/2010 winter semester, more than 52 per cent of undergraduate programmes on offer (those that lead to an initial professional qualification) were subject to admission restrictions.
HRK President Prof Dr Peter-André Alt: "The figures from the Federal Statistical Office reported just a few days ago reveal persistently high student and new student numbers. More than half a million new students can choose from around 10,500 undergraduate programmes, of which more than half had unrestricted admission. The situation regarding access to a university course currently appears to be rather stable. Naturally, there are varying hurdles to the desired degree programme depending on the subject and location."
Between the federal states, however, there is a great disparity in the proportion of study programmes on offer with unrestricted admission, as shown by the HRK survey. The proportion of programmes on offer without admission restrictions is particularly high in Thuringia (82.7 per cent), Rhineland-Palatinate (74.1 per cent), Saxony-Anhalt (73.5 per cent) as well as Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (69.7 per cent) and Bavaria (69.6 per cent). At 31.8 per cent, Berlin once again has the lowest proportion.
The HRK publication "Statistical Data on Study Opportunities at Universities in Germany – Winter Semester 2019/2020" (available only in German) contains comprehensive data on many aspects of studying in Germany. It was based on information entered by universities in the HRK database https://www.hochschulkompass.de/en about their degree programmes as at 1 September, and also additional statistical material.
The publication is available online at www.hrk.de. The printed version appears as part of the HRK series "Statistiken zur Hochschulpolitik" (Statistics on Research and Higher Education Policy) and can be ordered free of charge by sending an e-mail to publikationen@hrk.de.
