Around 24,600 students at the University of Kassel

Next Monday, the lectures of this year's winter semester will start at the University of Kassel. It will remain as full as in previous years: After 24,385 students last time (winter semester 2015/16), the university management expects about 24,600 enrolled men and women this year based on the data available so far.

However, it is becoming apparent that the strong growth of recent years is coming to an end, as expected. This semester, for example, the university in northern Hesse expects about 5,700 students in the 1st semester. This is less than in 2015/16, when there were 6,250. The number of newly admitted students is about 4,900 (3,400 first-time and 1,500 new enrollments). About 48 percent of students are women and about 52 percent are men, a ratio similar to last year. The number of international students also remains about the same: it is expected to be around 11.7 percent (2015/16: 11.8 percent). Turks make up the largest group of international students, followed by students from China, Iran and the Russian Federation. The increased number of students from Syria is striking; they now make up the fifth largest group of international students.

Among the subjects with restricted admissions, the Bachelor of Psychology (1,256 applicants for 80 places) and the Bachelor of Social Work (2,127 applicants for 335 places) were in particularly high demand, as in previous years.

The president of the university, Prof. Dr. Reiner Finkeldey, said: "We want to consolidate this order of magnitude of students in the coming years. In the future, it will not be about quantitative growth, but qualitative growth: about further improving the study conditions. Our students are already very satisfied, as they repeatedly confirm in surveys; but we want to focus even more attention on advising or preparatory courses, for example, and lead as many students as possible to successful completion of their studies."

Finkeldey extended a warm welcome to all German and international students who are new to Kassel: "Take advantage of the opportunities offered at the Idea University Kassel and in our exciting city, and make the start of your studies a step into a valuable and promising new phase of your life."

As every year, the final student figures for the winter semester will be available in mid-November.

Contact:

Sebastian Mense

University of Kassel

Communications, Press and Public Relations

Phone: +49 561 804-1961

E-mail: presse[at]uni-kassel[dot]de

Internet: www.uni-kassel.de