For the first time in 15 years, the number of students in Germany has fallen.

As the Federal Statistical Office reported on Wednesday in Frankfurt, one percent fewer students are enrolled in the current winter semester than in the previous year.

According to the statisticians, the number of students has thus fallen again for the first time since the 2007/2008 winter semester.

According to initial results from the Federal Office, 2.9 million students are currently enrolled at a university in Germany, around 30,400 fewer than in the 2021/2022 winter semester.

The development in the individual types of higher education is different: at universities it is 1.8 percent less, at technical colleges it is 0.2 percent more, at administrative colleges it is 1.1 percent less, at art colleges 1.4 percent more.

Despite the decline in the total number, the number of freshmen has increased slightly by 0.4 percent according to the first preliminary results.

In the academic year 2022 (summer and winter semester), 474,100 people began studying at a German university for the first time.

That was 1800 more than in the previous year.

The number of first-year students rose again for the first time after four years of decline.

The reason could be that after the end of the corona restrictions, more students from abroad are coming to Germany again.

The general secretary of the Deutsches Studentenwerk (DSW), Matthias Anbuhl, is worried about the decline in the total numbers: "We must not only look at the number of students starting their studies, but also have to enable young people to successfully complete their studies.

The students are in the most difficult social situation in decades.

Our society cannot afford to drop out of studies due to a lack of money.” What is therefore needed is “a package of financial aid, with BAföG that secures a living, which also fits the changed study realities”.