Niklas Lojewski had actually dropped out of geography at school, now he is studying human geography in the first semester at the Goethe University.

"I hadn't really considered the subject before," says the twenty-one-year-old.

The fact that he is now enthusiastic about it is thanks to the Goethe Orientation Studies (GO) at Frankfurt University.

Since 2018, the university has been offering this opportunity for high school graduates and prospective students who know that they want to study, but not what.

Introduced as a model project, those interested can choose between two areas – the humanities and social sciences and the natural and life sciences.

Lojewski sees his strengths in the humanities.

That's why he decided last summer to do an orientation semester, during which he could listen to the subjects ethnology, philosophy, comparative literature and geography.

He came across the GO project through the employment agency in his hometown near Karlsruhe.

"After graduating from high school, I was disoriented.

During the pandemic, we had few opportunities at school to try out things, to discuss plans with classmates or teachers.

Job and study fairs could only be visited online,” says Niklas.

He is happy to have found the orientation semester.

"That helped me alot."

The GO runs successfully.

Since 2019, reports Johanna Scheel, coordinator for the humanities and social sciences, more than 450 young people have taken part in both program lines.

The target group of GO are prospective students who are looking for the right subject, students who want to change, schoolchildren who do not yet know whether a degree is the right one, and "first generation students" from non-academic families.

Studying with a high school diploma

Clever minds, which the state also wants to promote "to tackle the challenges our world is facing," according to a statement on the debate of the parliamentary groups in the state parliament last Thursday.

It was about measures that the state is taking "so that people with different biographies can study successfully".

The QuiS funding program - high quality in studies and teaching, good framework conditions for studies - is one such measure and part of the university pact.

The state and the Hessian Ministry of Science are investing 25 million euros in QuiS every year until 2025.

A total of around three million euros will flow from this pot over four years to the GO offer at Frankfurt University.


The orientation course aims to make it easier for young people to choose a subject and they should be able to gain experience of everyday student life, says Scheel.

That seems to work.

In any case, after two months of study, Lojewski can say that he made the right choice.

There were no surprises: "GO has prepared us well for what awaits us."

Orientation, diversity, diversity and equal opportunities are the goals of many projects that are or have been funded by the state.

The University of Applied Sciences Frankfurt (UAS), for example, offers courses such as “focus!ing mechanical engineering”, “STEPS”, “diversity and equality in MINT subjects”.

The earlier model project "Studying without Abitur" has proven itself so well at the UAS that it has meanwhile become part of the normal course of study throughout Hesse.

Bettina Fischer-Gerstemeier has been in charge of the project since 2016 and provided the participants with advice and support.

At her university alone, 250 young people who do not have a high school diploma but who have successfully completed a three-year vocational training course with a secondary school diploma are currently studying.

Today they mostly study in social and nursing courses.

The Hessen Technikum, which began as a pilot project at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences and is now valid at all Hessian universities of applied sciences, has also proven its worth and is being funded by the ministry with around 407,000 euros this year.

The six-month study and career orientation program aims to inspire young women to take technical, mathematical and scientific courses.

One of them is Celine Wenzler.

The nineteen-year-old has been attending lectures and events in MINT subjects at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences every week since October and is doing an internship at R-Biopharm, a company based in Pfungstadt, for the rest of the time.

The young woman graduated from high school in French and art.

French is her mother tongue.

"I was also interested in STEM subjects, but up until now I was afraid that studying might be too difficult," she says.

Since she got a taste of the fields of optotechnology, physics and biotechnology, this fear has disappeared.

Her current favorite is a degree in biotechnology - encouraged by the practical experience she is currently gaining at her internship, where she feels well looked after.

However, the choice of course can still change.

Céline wants to spend four more months at Opel and sit in on mechanical engineering and physics.

She is happy for this opportunity.

"The Hessen technical center brings me a lot."