According to Science Minister Markus Blume (CSU), the Bavarian universities are starting a record winter semester. The number of students had reached an all-time high of 404,823, he announced after the cabinet meeting on Tuesday. A “slight increase” compared to the previous year. The number of freshmen has also increased to 64,000. 50.3 percent of first-year students are female. The state government also reports records for staff: 113,000 people are employed at state universities. There are 41,000 positions for academic staff and 8,000 for professors.
The Free State is investing 5.43 billion euros in research and teaching this year – 30 percent more than in 2018, said Blume. “While elsewhere the number of first-semester students is falling, Bavaria is growing.” With the High-Tech Agenda, among other things, the Free State is creating 13,000 new university places, 2,500 new jobs and 1,000 of them professorships. According to Blume, almost half of the professorships have already been filled.
On Tuesday, the minister tried again to allay the greatest concern of many students, that they would have to study alone at home and digitally again in the winter semester for reasons of corona or energy saving. He called out a “semester of normality and one in attendance”. It is clear that “nobody has to be cold and there will be no energy holidays in Bavaria”.
Blume repeated his demand for Berlin: the federal government must make it clear that the energy price brake also applies to universities, university hospitals and student unions, and that these are treated preferentially when gas becomes scarce. The one-time payment of 200 euros from the Federal Relief Package III must be paid out to students quickly. However, long-term aid such as a surcharge on the housing costs for BAföG recipients is necessary.