Study place

The number of study places in a specific subject at a university is based on the personnel, material and space available in a subject at a university that is available there for proper study .

The study place capacities for a subject are determined by the respective university according to certain formulas and calculation factors. The available personnel resources (available teaching staff), the material resources (laboratories, workshops, libraries, PC workstations, etc.) and the spatial equipment (e.g. lecture halls, seminar rooms) of a subject are included in this capacity calculation. This capacity calculation gives the number of students for whom the university can guarantee appropriate study conditions in a subject. These conditions include enough courses for all students, no overcrowded lecture halls and seminar rooms, enough laboratory workplaces (e.g. in the natural sciences ), enough library rooms and examiners for exams and final exams.

Situation in the German-speaking area

Germany

Admission restrictions

In many (popular) subjects at a university there are currently more applicants or students than there are (arithmetically) places available. In this case, the universities can apply for admission restrictions. If a subject has restricted admission at a university, the university only accepts as many applicants as there are places available: A numerus clausus is introduced.

For information on the regulations for the allocation of study places in subjects with restricted admission nationwide or throughout NRW, see SfH .
The student advisory service at universities provides advice on starting a course of studies in subjects with restricted admission .

Study place exchange

The new right of colleges and universities to choose their students in most subjects themselves has led to an organizational confusion - with various rounds of replacement and vacant study places. A more convenient admission system under the umbrella of the Central Office for the Allocation of Study Places - ZVS for short - is currently being developed. However, it should not be ready for use nationwide until winter 2011/12. Until then, university place exchanges serve as a temporary solution to avoid free capacities at the universities. According to Federal Education Minister Annette Schavan (CDU), 90 percent of the larger universities offered their vacant study places for the winter semester 2009/2010 on the study place exchange set up by the University Rectors' Conference (HRK). As an alternative to the HRK exchange, the nationwide and free study place exchange of the online portal studieren.de has established itself.

Selection process

So far, there are few elite universities in Germany, such as those in Great Britain or France. On the one hand, this is due to the fact that the universities in Germany are fundamentally obliged by law to grant every holder of the general higher education entrance qualification access to the first degree. This means that a performance-based selection of students is only possible if the number of applicants for a certain course exceeds the number of available places.

Furthermore, due to the introduction of the Bachelor's and Master's courses, the universities will in future have the option of setting up their own admission procedures for all Master's courses and thus further increasing the selection based on performance. The obligation to fill vacant study places regardless of performance applies only to the first degree (bachelor's degree). This opens up the possibility for German universities to develop a performance elite education at postgraduate level, regardless of the respective subject and the number of applicants.

For the reasons mentioned above and because there are enough places available in most subjects, the selectivity of German universities is generally low. Few institutions are exclusive in the sense that they can only accept a few of many applicants. Among these is z. B. the private Zeppelin University (admission rate: a good 10%).

Switzerland

The universities are obliged to fill the study places preferably with applicants with a Swiss Matura certificate ( Matura / Matura ). Foreign students, for whom around 25 percent of the places are reserved, are systematically selected using a selection system.

Situation in other countries

France

Pronounced, needs-based access restrictions have been part of the education system in France since the French Revolution. In particular at the Grandes écoles and Grands établissements , for which the specialist ministries are responsible , the low number of study places has made the admission criteria very demanding.

United States

In the USA there are no elite universities in the sense of “cadre schools”; Even the best schools are in principle equally open to qualified applicants.

Key data from selected top universities in the USA
		WITH private	Stanford private	Harvard private	Columbia private	UCLA public	Stand, sources
QS World University Ranking		#1	# 2	# 3	# 16	# 32	2018/2019
Number of students	Bachelor	4602	7083	6699	8931	30,873	2018/2019
	Master, professional, doctorate	6972	9437	13,120	24.101	14,074
	all in all	11,574	16,520	19,819	33,032	30,873
Average student performance data	SAT	1531	1480	1540	1580	1370	2019 2018
	ACT	35	33	34	34	31
	GPA	4.17	4th	4.04	4.13	3.90
Admission rate		6.7%	4.4%	4.5%	6.1%	14%
Study costs (US $ per year, excluding learning materials and personal needs)	Tuition fees ( Tuition & Fees ; Bachelor)	51,520	52,857	51,925	59,430	13,239	2019
	Dormitory and cafeteria	18,720	16,433	17,682	13,644	16,625
	all in all	70,240	69,290	69,607	73,074	29,864

selectivity

Only a small fraction of universities in the United States are extremely selective.

In the United States today, of over 4,200 colleges, 11% are so selective that they accept less than 40% of their applicants. It is particularly difficult to get hold of places at Stanford (admission rate of 4%), Harvard , Princeton (each 5%), Columbia , Yale (each 6%), Caltech , MIT and the University of Chicago (each 7%). Public universities are also more or less selective ( UCLA : 14%, UC Berkeley : 15%). In their entirety, however, the universities in the USA are far less selective than media reports such as B. occasionally suggest about Operation Varsity Blues . Many universities that occupy top positions in the national ranking show a relatively low level of selectivity. Johns Hopkins e.g. B. has an acceptance rate of 12.8%. Other examples: Notre Dame (18.9%), University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (23.0%), Wake Forest (28.0%). Also among the schools whose graduates receive the highest average starting salaries are many that are not extremely selective, such as Carnegie Mellon (22.2%), Stevens Institute of Technology (43.9%), and Colorado School of Mines ( 49.2%).

Factors of access

power

The most important prerequisites for being accepted in very selective schools are, in addition to excellent results in the relevant SAT and ACT performance tests, exceptionally good school grades ( GPA ) and an outstanding written application. Athletes z. B. are gladly accepted if they have already participated in the Olympic Games . Since many universities generate significant income through their sports programs, top athletes are preferred there.

tuition fee

Only a quarter of all universities charge tuition fees in excess of US $ 20,000 per year.

Furthermore, many universities are selective due to their very high tuition fees . Extremely expensive is z. B. Columbia (US $ 59,430 per year in 2019, excluding room and board costs). Studying at a private university is usually more expensive than studying at a public institution. However, the public universities also charge tuition fees of up to US $ 18,192 ( University of Pittsburgh ), while conversely the cheapest private university ( Brigham Young University ) only charges US $ 5,790 per year. The high tuition fees are mainly explained by the fact that the state donates comparatively little money. For details on college funding, see Tertiary Education in the United States #Funding .

The gifted can receive scholarships that do not eliminate the cost burden, but mitigate them somewhat, and families with low incomes can in many cases take advantage of Financial Aid . In the 2015/2016 school year, only 1.5% of all students at four-year colleges received enough grants and scholarships to cover their tuition costs in full (“full ride”).

Legacy

At some universities, children of alumni are also given preference ( Legacy Preference , Legacy Admission ).

Individual evidence

↑ [1] . Deutschlandradio, broadcast Campus and Career, author: Anja Braun, broadcast on November 6, 2009.

↑ http://www.ftd.de/bildung/:grosser-bedarf-ansturm-auf-studienplatzboerse/50009265.html ( Memento from September 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) . Financial Times Deutschland, "Rush to Study Place Exchange", September 14, 2009.

↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ]. Volksstimme, "Free places on the Internet", Philipp Hoffmann, September 1, 2009. @ 2

↑ [2] . heise.de, "Study places on sale: What remaining place exchanges offer", July 13, 2010.

↑ BVerfGE 33, 303 (numerus clausus I); BVerfGE 43, 291 (number clausus II); see. Angelika Friedl: By urgent request to the lecture hall . In: Tagesspiegel.de , April 17, 2009, accessed October 13, 2011.