Sometimes a student has more rights than a university
"Prospective students come to us because of refusals to grant them study places, and students try to challenge grades or failing an exam," Philipp Werenkotte clarifies in an interview with Deutsche Welle. Seven years ago he graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Cologne. Today, the experienced lawyer represents the interests of students.
Students seek help from a lawyer at the last moment. Philipp Werenkotte warns: "The earlier students seek legal advice, the higher their chances of success." This especially applies to those who believe they failed an exam not through their own fault, but due to circumstances or a conflict with the instructor.
Most often, medical students, especially future dentists, turn to lawyers. This is explained by the large number of exams with practical tasks. An experienced examiner can always find fault with something. "The lawyer's task in such cases is to find mistakes in the examiner or to prove that the examination format was violated. Sometimes the instructors themselves do not have sufficient qualifications to conduct the exam," the lawyer says.
University administrations, as a rule, strive to avoid litigation, which in case of loss can entail large financial costs. That is why both sides are willing to seek a compromise solution. As a result, most students who seek help from a lawyer receive the right to retake exams.
Rejection of admission is one of the most common reasons for student appeals. Because of the high competition for a place, each university has its own planned quota. For example, 300 people apply for 100 study places. The best are selected, and the rest end up on waiting lists or look for places at other universities.
Practice shows that a university has the ability to provide ten more places than planned. An experienced lawyer can handle the evidence base without taking the case to court, and if necessary, win the case in court. "It is worth noting that the study place is usually obtained not by those on the waiting list, but by those who sought help from lawyers," emphasizes Philipp Werenkotte.
In Cologne alone, before the start of each semester, between 80 and 300 people seek help from the law firm in hopes of getting a study place. "Of course, we cannot help everyone, otherwise the university would have to announce an additional enrollment of students, but several dozen is quite feasible. The success rate is about 30 percent," the lawyer states. In the last case handled by Philipp Werenkotte, they managed to defend a prospective student's right to a study place, who lacked half a point for admission to the medical faculty.
Foreign students from EU member states also seek help from lawyers, because they have the same rights to education as German citizens. Students from Eastern Europe and other countries are admitted to German universities under specially allocated quotas for foreigners. Those not accepted into the university remain in their home countries and have practically no opportunity to challenge the university's decision. According to Philipp Werenkotte, he and his colleagues often have to defend the rights of students with migrant backgrounds, as well as those who came to Germany temporarily to obtain higher education.
A female student from Russia was helped by lawyers to retake an exam she had failed twice. They managed to prove that in the second oral exam, the grade was lowered due to a language barrier. Often lawyers fight to have their clients provided an additional opportunity for knowledge testing, even though the retake limit has been exhausted. Another female client from Ukraine had German officials unwilling to recognize the academic degree she obtained in her home country. After the lawyers' intervention, the girl not only had her degree recognized, but was also offered a job as a research assistant.
Usually, the students' parents pay for the legal services. The cost ranges from 700 to 1500 euros, complex cases that go to court can cost up to 3000 euros. Philipp Werenkotte and his colleagues are confident that the demand for lawyers' services from students will only grow.