Universities expand support services for first-year students

for a successful start, according to a new report from the Bertelsmann Foundation, reports The Local, Germany.

Four out of five faculties currently offer preparatory or bridge courses for first-semester students, the Centre for Higher Education (CHE) announced in Gütersloh on Thursday 21 September. This is an increase of 12 percentage points compared to the last evaluation in 2021 for the University Admission and Study Entrance in Germany report. Almost all of the universities offered support for mathematics and science programmes, the authors said.

Part of the push to expand services was a reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw many universities decrease their offerings as classes increasingly migrated online. “Politicians, schools and society have rightly demanded that special attention be paid to the COVID-19 strains and possible gaps in the curriculum of the past Abitur (final school examinations) cohorts at the start of their studies,” said CHE Executive Director Frank Ziegele in a statement. “The universities have met this responsibility by expanding their support services.”
Full report on The Local, Germany site