As announced by Johann Hahlen, president of the Federal Statistical Office, presenting a report on the state of higher education in Germany, in 2005, 351,000 applicants were admitted to the first year, which is 2% less than in the previous year. The proportion of young people entering universities in the corresponding age group fell in Germany from 37.5% in 2004 to 36.7% in 2005. Back in 2001, there was a trend toward increasing the number of first-year students.
In Germany, they want 40% of young people to enter universities. This figure is mentioned in the coalition agreement that became the basis of the new German government's policy. But Germany is still far from this goal – in international comparison, the country is trailing behind, stressed Johann Hahlen.
The total number of students in Germany has declined because in several federal states (in particular, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia), higher education has become fee-paying for those who already have a diploma and for those who study longer than the required time. In the winter semester 2004/2005, the number of students who studied for more than 15 semesters decreased by 28%. On average, the number of people receiving a second higher education decreased by a third. In some states, it even halved. The number of students of retirement age also decreased by 45% – today, 3,600 people over the age of 60 are registered as students in Germany.
The most popular subjects currently are law, economics, and sociology (32%). The craze for computer science is now a thing of the past, according to the report.
The compilers of the report also conducted a gender analysis. While a balance still holds among applicants, the situation changes dramatically as qualifications increase. Women make up 39% of candidates of sciences, 31% of doctors of sciences, 14% of professors, and among professors holding senior administrative positions at universities, women account for only 9%.
Germany's Minister of Education and Research, Annette Schavan, emphasized in connection with the presented report that the government considers the expansion and strengthening of higher education in Germany to be one of its most important goals. The minister indicated that the federal government intends to expand the volume of subsidies from the center for education needs, despite the fact that the federal states, which have jurisdiction over universities, will gain even more control over them as a result of the reform of Germany's federal system agreed upon by the partners in the "grand coalition." According to Annette Schavan, the trend toward increasing the number of students at German universities will not appear before 2010. But the government will not remain idle until then, the education minister assured. While leaving full freedom of action to her colleagues in the federal states, the central ministry offers its assistance in implementing already ongoing special university programs.
President of the Federal Association of German Employers' Associations, Dieter Hundt, demanded: "We must devote more efforts to forming a professional elite in Germany." The goal is to create a "German Berkeley" in Germany. "Our country needs people who can take on more responsibility than the average person and produce results far above the average," Hundt declared.