Half a Million Students Expected

Uhr

Nearly Half a Million First-Year Students Expected in Germany for Winter Semester 2022 / 2023 – Student Housing Situation Remaining Strained

  • First-year stu­dent enrol­ment at least back up to pri­or-year level
  • With tra­vel rest­ric­tions revo­ked, espe­ci­al­ly Asi­an stu­dents return to Ger­ma­ny
  • Strong demand and high­ly strai­ned stu­dent housing mar­kets in metro regi­ons and cam­pus towns

Michael Stump, COO der International Campus Group
Micha­el Stump, COO der Inter­na­tio­nal Cam­pus Group (Copy­right: Inter­na­tio­nal Cam­pus)

In Ger­ma­ny, the Win­ter Semes­ter 2022 / 2023 will start in ear­ly Octo­ber. As a rule, more than three out of four first-year stu­dents will have begun their degree pro­grams at one of Germany’s 423 hig­her edu­ca­ti­on insti­tu­ti­ons, inclu­ding uni­ver­si­ties. For this first time, stu­dents par­ti­ci­pa­ting in Europe’s Eras­mus exch­an­ge pro­gram will be entit­led to hig­her fun­ding rates when stu­dy­ing in ano­ther EU coun­try. Depen­ding on the desti­na­ti­on coun­try, they are paid 600 euros or more each month. On top of that, it is safe to assu­me that the return to face-to-face tea­ching and the res­to­red pos­si­bi­li­ty to stu­dy abroad will ensu­re the arri­val of a lar­ge num­ber of dome­stic and inter­na­tio­nal first-year stu­dents in Ger­man cam­pus towns. In total, rough­ly three mil­li­on stu­dents will pro­ba­b­ly be enrol­led for the Win­ter Semes­ter in Ger­ma­ny.

“We expect near­ly 500,000 first-year stu­dents in Ger­ma­ny for the Win­ter Semes­ter 2022 / 2023. So, the num­ber of first-year stu­dents should match last year’s level at the least,” said Micha­el Stump, the COO of Inter­na­tio­nal Cam­pus Group. “On the one hand, we are seeing—including in our own houses—the return of inter­con­ti­nen­tal stu­dents to Ger­man uni­ver­si­ties and other hig­her edu­ca­ti­on insti­tu­ti­ons. On the other hand, we expect to see the final catch-up effects of the coro­na­vi­rus pan­de­mic. Despi­te the rapid increase in the cost of living, young peo­p­le want to get their degrees, and they need their own place to stay at their stu­dy loca­ti­on.”

“The situa­ti­on on the housing mar­kets of many Ger­man metro regi­ons and uni­ver­si­ty cities is very strai­ned, mea­ning more so than it used to be. The­re is not near­ly enough resi­den­ti­al accom­mo­da­ti­on, and the volu­me of stu­dent housing that is being deve­lo­ped lags far behind demand – crea­ting serious issues for young peo­p­le. Unless sup­p­ly is expan­ded, housing and ren­tal cos­ts will just keep going up,” Stump went on to say. “The lull in Ger­man housing con­s­truc­tion hits stu­dents par­ti­cu­lar­ly hard, as they are not among the most well-hee­led demand groups. The lin­ge­ring uncer­tain­ty con­cer­ning the future of govern­ment fun­ding via the KfW deve­lo­p­ment bank is not hel­pful eit­her as far as the pro­vi­si­on of ade­qua­te housing for all seg­ments of socie­ty goes. Urgent action at all poli­ti­cal levels is cal­led for.”

“We hope that the ‘young living’ action plan on the Ger­man fede­ral and sta­te level will move for­ward quick­ly, so that it can start sim­pli­fy­ing and expe­diting the crea­ti­on of addi­tio­nal accom­mo­da­ti­on for stu­dents and other young peo­p­le by ear­ly 2023,” Stump added. Stream­li­ned plan­ning and per­mit pro­ce­du­res, and fas­ter pro­ces­sing of plan­ning and zoning appli­ca­ti­ons as well as sound and relia­ble KfW fun­ding pro­grams would be well sui­ted to address the issue of housing shorta­ges and rising housing cos­ts for stu­dents in a pur­po­se-dri­ven way.

Press contact

We are happy to answer press enquiries. Please send us a message.