First-year students in Bavaria must continue to expect admission restrictions at the start of the winter semester. However, the proportion of courses with numerus clausus (NC) is lower in the 2022/23 winter semester than in the previous year: 32.9 percent of all courses have an NC, which is 3.6 percentage points less than according to a study by the Center for Higher Education Development (CHE). last year. The CHE examines the quotas every year and announced the results on Tuesday.
One reason for the lower number of courses with admission restrictions is the falling number of first-year students. At the universities, this ensures that the capacities are not overloaded so quickly. In addition, the number of courses offered increased. The universities can thus increasingly drop admission restrictions. Against the background of the impending shortage of skilled workers, this was also politically desired, said Cort-Denis Hachmeister, an expert on university access at the CHE Center for University Development.
In a nationwide comparison, Bavaria is in the middle when it comes to the proportion of courses with restricted admission. It has been around 40 percent throughout Germany for years, with a downward trend in recent years. Nationwide, the NC quota fell by 1.8 percentage points to 37.9 percent from the past winter semester to the coming one. Hamburg is at the top with 62.8 percent, Thuringia has the smallest share with 19.6 percent.
In Munich, which is still a popular place to study, more than half of the courses on offer have restricted admission. There, the proportion of courses with numerus clausus rose slightly against the trend from 52 to 53 percent. The highest NC rate among cities with more than 16,000 students is in Garching, a branch of the Technical University of Munich. All master’s degree programs there have restricted admission, while the quota for a bachelor’s degree is 41 percent.
In Erlangen, on the other hand, the rate had skyrocketed by 35 percentage points a year ago due to the introduction of proficiency tests as a form of admission restriction. Now the opposite effect can be observed; the rate is only 6 percent, the CHE announced. Law, economics, social sciences and social sciences have the highest NC rate in Bavaria at 42.7 percent. Mathematics and natural sciences – including medicine – are at 36.7.
It is easiest to get a place on a course in linguistics and cultural studies, where the rate is 19.6 percent; in engineering it is 35.8 percent. In the case of courses with an NC, prospective students must apply for admission. Depending on the university, the criteria are not always just the Abitur grades. Other conditions can include test results, selection interviews, work experience or internships.