The Federal Statistical Office sees a trend towards privatization in education in Germany. Private universities have grown particularly strongly. Private schools also cost parents a lot.
Private universities and private schools are becoming increasingly popular in Germany. In the winter semester of 2021/22, a good one or one in ten students were enrolled at a private university, as the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden reports. In total there were almost 342,600 students. That is around twelve times as many as 20 years ago, when there were almost 29,400 students.
During the same period, the total number of students at all universities only increased by 57.5 percent from just under 1.9 to 2.9 million. As a result, the proportion of students attending private universities has increased almost tenfold: from 1.6 percent in the winter semester of 2001/02 to 11.6 percent in the winter semester of 2021/22.
Private technical colleges are particularly in demand
The range of private universities has been increasing for years. The number of private universities has more than doubled within 20 years from 49 in the winter semester of 2001/02 to 114 in the winter semester of 2021/22. Private technical colleges are particularly in demand; their share was 90.5 percent.
In purely mathematical terms, the student-teacher ratio at private universities is less favorable than at public universities. In the winter semester of 2021/22, a teacher looked after an average of 36.4 students at private universities, but only 14.6 at public universities. Most of the students at private universities were enrolled in law, economics and social sciences. This was followed by engineering and human medicine/health sciences.
3784 private schools in Germany
“The trend towards privatization in the school sector is also unbroken,” reported the statisticians. The number of private general education schools increased by 50 percent from 2,522 in the 2002/03 school year to 3,784 in the 2022/23 school year. During the same period, the number of public general education schools fell by 24 percent.
Accordingly, the proportion of private school students increased significantly: in the 2022/23 school year, almost a tenth of children and young people went to private schools. In total there were around 797,600 out of a total of almost 8.7 million students. 20 years ago, only six percent of all students had attended a private school.
Most students here go to a private school
The extent to which private schools are used varies greatly from state to state. The proportion of private school students was highest in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (12.3 percent). It was lowest in Schleswig-Holstein at around 5.6 percent. On average, parents paid 2,030 euros annually for a paid private school place for their children. The tax-deductible school fees per child were highest in Hesse with an average of 3,320 euros, and lowest in Saxony with 1,210 euros.
Destatis on private universities and schools
Source: Stern
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