Countering demographic decline – How Germany’s shrinking universities attract and retain international students
Study | March 2019
More students than ever before are studying for a degree in Germany. Nevertheless, low birth rates and the depopulation of certain regions of the country are already leading to a drop in student enrolment at some German universities and universities of applied sciences. A number of these shrinking universities are bucking this trend by taking steps to attract international students. The SVR’s Research Unit conducted a study to find out what shrinking universities can do and are doing to attract international students, to prepare them for their courses of study, and then retain them in the local labour market once they graduate.
