University of Kassel starts winter semester with over 23,800 students

According to preliminary figures, 12,456 men and 11,396 women will study at the University of Kassel in the winter semester. The number of newly admitted students is 5,330, and the number of international students is 2,640 (11.1 percent). The final data will be available on November 14. Last winter semester, Kassel University had 22,877 students, which was also an all-time high at the time. "We also see these figures as a sign of the quality of our degree programs and the attractiveness of the courses we offer," explained the university's president, Prof. Dr. Rolf-Dieter Postlep. "Our university feels it has a responsibility to offer a place at university to as many young people as possible within the limits of available resources."

Postlep pointed out that demand for study places at the University of Kassel will remain high for the foreseeable future: "We are the university of northern Hesse and a strong factor in the prosperity of the region. In order for this to continue, investments must be made in the expansion of the university and in improved conditions for teaching and research over and above the commitments made to date. This is a task for the coming years. It is also important for the ongoing study and research operations that the state of Hesse permanently guarantees a real increase in basic funding. Here, I am optimistic for the next Hessian Higher Education Pact 2016 to 2020." In this context, the president pointed out above all that the upcoming wage increases must be taken over by the state so that there is no drain on the budget due to additional personnel costs.

The university is prepared

In view of the high demand for study places, the University of Kassel had to use admission restrictions for 32 subjects this semester. The university received 23,054 applications for the 3,193 places in these restricted subjects. The bachelor's program in psychology was again in particularly high demand, with 2,945 applications for every 80 places.

A total of 5,330 students are new to the University of Kassel, 3,768 of whom are first-time enrollees (enrolled at a German university for the first time), and 1,562 of whom are new enrollees (e.g., in the course of a change of university to Kassel). "We warmly welcome everyone to our university," Postlep said. "It is clear to us that the high number of students means at the same time: our university will work under continuous full capacity. However, we have prepared ourselves well to be able to offer a high-quality education to all students. My thanks go to all the university's employees in science and art, administration, library and technology who make this possible."

The university has been preparing for the high number of students for some time. In 2013 and 2104, for example, it funded some 80 additional positions, including 26 professorships, including 12 visiting professorships. Eight professorships were filled ahead of schedule. Staffing levels were also increased in the examination offices. The funds from this came from the Higher Education Pact 2020.

The university can also draw on a number of new buildings that have been completed in recent years. For example, an additional 126-square-meter reading and study room has been available in the library at the Witzenhausen site since the beginning of September. The remodeling and expansion of the central cafeteria at Holländischer Platz in Kassel was already completed in 2013, as was the construction of the new Institute of Sports and Sports Science building on Damaschkestraße. Further buildings will be completed successively over the next few years. In the summer semester of 2015, the new Campus Center, which offers six large lecture halls as well as seminar rooms, will go into operation and significantly ease the space situation. Until then, rentals on a larger scale will remain necessary. This winter semester, for example, the university is renting rooms in the Cineplex cinema Capitol, in the Kassel Clinic and in the Philipp Scheidemann House.

Other measures, some of which the university has been preparing for for some time, include occupying rooms in the early morning and evening hours, extended library opening hours and the expansion of e-learning.

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Contact:
Sebastian Mense
University of Kassel
Communications, Press and Public Relations
Tel.: +49 561 804-1961
E-mail: presse@uni-kassel.de