If you want to study, look at possible admission restrictions. With the numerus clausus, the universities control the lack of study places. But it is declining nationwide – with exceptions.
The proportion of degree programs in Germany with admission restrictions continues to decline.
According to a study by the Center for Higher Education Development (CHE) in Gütersloh, the proportion of subjects with numerus clausus (NC) in the 2022/2023 winter semester will only decrease slightly from 40.1 to 39.7 percent compared to the same time last year. However, the trend of the past few years continues, the CHE announced on Wednesday. In the 2017/2018 winter semester, the proportion in Germany was still 42.4 percent.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, the number of first-year students continued to fall by 51,113 to 811,899 in 2021/2022 compared to the previous year. On the other hand, the number of courses offered increased.
Significant regional variations
The authors of the study by the CHE, a joint subsidiary of the Bertelsmann Foundation and the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK), pointed out that school leavers in the federal states must expect significant deviations from the national average for the NC. Hamburg, Saarland and Berlin have a numerus clausus in over 60 percent of the subjects, while the proportion in Rhineland-Palatinate and Thuringia is less than 25 percent. The strongest increase in the NC subject ratio was in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Bavaria (2.6), with an increase of 7.8 percentage points, while Berlin and Bremen reported a decrease of 4.3 percentage points.
On average, the proportion of NC subjects nationwide is highest in law, economics, and social sciences at 48.6 percent. Then come mathematics and natural sciences (36.4), followed by engineering (33.1) and languages and cultural studies (26.0).
In the typical student towns and especially in the metropolises, school leavers have to reckon with an NC more frequently. According to a study in Leipzig, 61 percent of the courses offered have an admission restriction, and in Göttingen and Cologne the figure is more than half at 53 percent.
In the case of a subject with admission restrictions, the university sets a maximum number of students to be accepted (closed number, numerus clausus). School leavers must apply for a place. The selection is then made on the basis of grades, test results or professional experience.
Source: Stern
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