Courses Of Study And Students : Germany

Government policy has opened higher education study to all strata of the population. In the 1952/53 winter semester, four percent of the freshmen came from wage-earner families, compared with about 14 percent today. In 1952 one fifth of all students were women; today the figure is 42 percent in the western part of the country and over 48 percent in the east.

The federal and state governments are also very interested in attracting foreigners to study in Germany. In 1996 the number was about 146,000.

For nearly all courses of study there are recommended curricula and required intermediate examinations. Nevertheless, in many fields students can themselves decide which subjects will be the focus of their studies and which classes they will take.

Students at public higher education institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany are not required to pay tuition fees. Students enrolled at a higher education institution are covered under the institution’s accident insurance and as a rule are able to obtain health and long-term care insurance at a reduced student rate.

Under the Federal Training Assistance Act (BAF6G), students have a legal right to public financial assistance if the funds they need to cover their educational and living expenses are not available from other sources, most notably from their parents’ income. Half of this assistance is awarded in the form of a grant and the rest as an interest-free loan that must usually be repaid within five years after the end of the maximum entitlement period.

In 1995, 24.2 percent of all students in the old states and 54.8 percent of the students in the new states received assistance under the Federal Training Assistance Act. Payments under this Act are made by the 65 student welfare services, which as a rule are statutory bodies of the federal states. They are responsible for economic, social, cultural and health care services for students at the higher education institutions. The local student welfare services have together formed a national organization, the German Student Welfare Service (DSW). A room in a dormitory is the least expensive living arrangement for students. In 1995 about ten percent of the students in the old federal states and 55 percent in the new states had this option. Rents on the open market are a serious problem for many students. The percentage of students who have to work while pursuing their studies has meanwhile risen to over 60 percent.