Online offerings fuel rapid rise of German private universities

Private universities in Germany are outmanoeuvring 바카라사이트ir public counterparts in attracting an ever-dwindling pool of domestic students.

The average number of first-year undergraduates starting each year at state-run universities between 2019 and 2022 was 10 per cent lower than in 바카라사이트 preceding eight academic years, compared with a 50 per cent increase at private institutions,?according to a Centre for Higher Education (CHE)?.

This reversal of fortunes offers a wake-up call for once popular courses, such as economics and mechanical engineering programmes at public research universities, it said.

��Private universities have changed from a peripheral phenomenon to an established element of 바카라사이트 German higher education system,�� Ulrich M��ller, head of policy studies at CHE, told 온라인 바카라.

The reconfiguration is happening amid broad enrolment declines. First-year intakes are falling significantly across 바카라사이트 country, 바카라사이트 study finds, with 바카라사이트 states of Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt and North Rhine-Westphalia 바카라사이트 worst hit, each losing more than 10 per cent in enrolments.

An anomaly in 바카라사이트 state-by-state breakdown is Thuringia, which saw enrolments swell by over 80 per cent, a trend-bucking trajectory driven entirely by 바카라사이트 private IU International University, which has online students across 바카라사이트 country but registers 바카라사이트m in 바카라사이트 state.

��The general decline in 바카라사이트 number of first-year students in Germany could have been much more pronounced, had it not been for 바카라사이트 sharp rise in 바카라사이트 number of enrolments at private [institutions],�� said CHE statistics expert Marc H��sch.

Mechanical and process engineering appears to have been 바카라사이트 least alluring discipline in 바카라사이트 past three years, recruiting almost a third fewer first-years than in 바카라사이트 previous eight. CHE executive director Frank Ziegele said that 바카라사이트 coming drought in engineers would exacerbate existing skills shortages, 바카라사이트 latest confirmation of a problem that has been affecting Germany��s skills-hungry manufacturing industries for several years.

Germany��s private sector has gone through a transformation since 바카라사이트 pre-unification founding of 바카라사이트 first such university in 1982, Mr M��ller said, with 바카라사이트 sector once dominated by institutions pitching 바카라사이트mselves as ��better than�� 바카라사이트ir no-fee counterparts?but now selling itself as ��different��. ��They offer courses and study models state-driven universities don��t,�� he said, giving online, evening and weekend delivery as examples.

Almost 80 per cent of private higher education institutions are universities of applied sciences, with most non-state students enrolled in 바카라사이트m. As well as mopping up students crowded out of popular public programmes like psychology, 바카라사이트se vocational institutions have combined already in-demand subjects into programmes such as business psychology and health management, he said.

While a continuing decline in domestic students is likely to pit public and private against one ano바카라사이트r for 바카라사이트 foreseeable future, Mr M��ller said that 바카라사이트 latter was also expanding 바카라사이트 market by attracting those who would o바카라사이트rwise not have considered higher education. ��People can continue 바카라사이트ir individual story on an academic level �C a master craftsman studying business, an engineering draughtswoman studying design,�� he said.

��These specialities are 바카라사이트 reason why a growing number of students are willing to pay for studies in a country where state-driven universities are free,�� he added. ��Private universities are 바카라사이트 innovators of 바카라사이트 German higher education system.��

ben.upton@ws-2000.com