2025

There were no reforms in the area of higher education during the reporting period.

2024

In June 2024, the Federation and the Länder adopted a new Strategy of the Federal and Länder Ministers of Science for the Internationalisation of Institutions of Higher Education in Germany (Strategie der Wissenschaftsminister/innen von Bund und Ländern für die Internationalisierung der Hochschulen in Deutschland). It replaces the 2013 internationalisation strategy and is intended to strengthen the higher education location in the face of new technological and political developments and increasing global risks, and to make it more resilient. At the same time, the Federation and the Länder want to take a strategic approach to the social, economic and technological developments of recent years that are relevant to the internationalisation of higher education institutions. The sustainability agenda and the growing socio-political demand for more equal opportunities and diversity are creating new expectations and requirements for the internationalisation of research and teaching. In addition, the potential of digitisation is to be exploited in the context of the internationalisation of higher education institutions.

In this context, the Federal Government and the Länder aim to:

• further increase the attractiveness of German higher education and research institutions for international students and researchers and to further reduce potential hurdles to their recruitment, integration and retention in order to attract more qualified people to research and industry.
• enabling high-quality internationalisation experiences for as many students, researchers and other higher education staff as possible – both by promoting physical and virtual mobility and by internationalising at home.
• while safeguarding the autonomy of higher education institutions and the EU's division of competences in the higher education sector, to work towards further expanding and deepening the quality of European and international cooperation in research and teaching, from smaller projects to larger networks and strategic alliances.

Dealing with and combating anti-Semitism at universities

In response to the terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israel, the federal and and state governments, as well as the German Rectors' Conference (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz – HRK) and the higher education institutions, have condemned these attacks, reaffirmed their solidarity with Israel and dealt intensively with the protests that have been developing in Germany and the associated attacks.

By 2023, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany (Kultusministerkonferenz - KMK) (higher education plenary) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung -  BMBF) have adopted a “Action plan against anti-Semitism and hostility towards Israel” (‘Aktionsplan gegen Antisemitismus und Israelfeindlichkeit’. In June 2024, the Standing Conference (higher education plenary) issued a “Declaration for an open promotion of scientific exchange” (‘Erklärung für eine offene Förderung des wissenschaftlichen Austausches’ and against calls for a boycott of Israeli researchers and Israeli research institutions. In addition to intensive exchange between the Länder on their experiences with the measures taken and their effectiveness, the committees in the Standing Conference are also exchanging views with representatives of Jewish organisations and the German Rectors' Conference.

Act amending the Federal Training Assistance Act

The 29th Act amending the Federal Training Asssistance Act (Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetz - BAföG) addresses key projects to strengthen equal opportunities in education. In addition to an increase in the needs-based rates, the housing allowance for recipients not living with their parents and the parental allowances, it also includes structural adjustments such as the introduction of a study start grant for students from financially disadvantaged families, a flexibility semester and a simplified change of subject. The law came into force at the beginning of the school year and the winter semester of 2024/2025.

2023

In November 2022, the Joint Science Conference (Gemeinsame Wissenschaftskonferenz – GWK) adopted the Federation-Länder-agreement on the Women Professors Programme 2030. This will bring the Women Professors Programme into a fourth phase. Building on the successful previous three programme phases, the cultural change towards more gender equality at institutions of higher education is to be further strengthened. The aim of the funding programme is to dynamically increase the number of female academics in top positions in the field of science towards parity and to anchor gender equality even more firmly in the structure of institutions of higher education. The institutions of higher education first submit an equality concept; after a successful assessment, they can apply for funding for up to three professorships for women. The programme is funded in equal parts by the Länder and the Federation. The "Professorinnenprogramm 2030" will run for eight years (2023 to 2030) and has a total funding volume of Euro 320 million.

More detailed information on the Women Professors Programme is available in the chapter on higher education funding.

Future Contract Strengthening Teaching and Learning

The Federation and the Länder are providing institutions of higher education with additional funding to maintain study capacities in line with demand and to improve the quality of studies and teaching with the Future Contract for Teaching and Learning. In their agreement on the Future Contract in 2019, the heads of government of the federal and Länder governments agreed that the Federation would provide Euro 1.88 billion annually from 2021 to 2023 and Euro 2.05 billion annually from 2024 onwards. The Länder will provide their own funds in at least the same amount. 

In November 2022, the GWK decided to dynamise the Future Contract from 2023 onwards. According to this, the funds provided by the Federation and the Länder will increase by three percent in 2023 compared to the previous year, by around 5.9 percent in 2024 compared to the previous year, by 1.5 percent in 2025 and by three percent in 2026 and 2027. The Federation and the Länder will each provide a further Euro 338 million in the period from 2023 to 2027 as a result of the agreed dynamisation. With the dynamisation of the Future Contract, the budget development of higher education institutions will be aligned with that of non-university research institutes.

2022

Effects of the energy crisis on the scientific sector

The committees of the Standing Conference have dealt intensively with the effects of the energy crisis on institutions of higher education, university hospitals, non-university research institutions and student services. Due to the importance of institutions of higher education as educational institutions and in view of the high demand for skilled workers, the Standing Conference has advocated in particular that institutions of higher education, university hospitals, research institutions and student services be treated as "protected customers" within the meaning of the Energy Industry Act, the Gas Grid Access Ordinance and the "SoS Ordinance" and that all institutions fall under the protection of the energy price brake.

In view of the particularly explosive nature of the social dimension of the energy crisis for students, the Standing Conference held talks with the BMBF on ways to support students in need as well as help for the student unions as institutions providing social services for students. The last consultations at the end of 2022 concerned the handling of the one-off payment of Euro 200 for students and certain groups of students provided for in the Student Energy Price Allowance Act (EPPSG). In the period from February 28 to October 2, 2023, a total of more than 2.8 million applications were paid out and students and (vocational) students were supported with around Euro 568 million.

Measures for dealing with the coronavirus

In order to support institutions of higher education, teaching staff and students in dealing with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany has decided on measures to continue to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic in the higher education sector in 2022 and, in particular, to organize the 2022 summer semester. The aim was to ensure a responsible return to the institutions of higher education and thus a normal university day in attendance.

The Länder have responded to the fact that the pandemic – in addition to the social consequences – has in some cases caused severe psychological stress for students by expanding counselling services. In order to strengthen students' mental health in the long term, study-related measures such as (elective) courses and mentoring programmes can also have a supportive effect.

The pandemic has also had an impact on the progress of at least some students. The Länder have approached the federal government to support students in their efforts to successfully continue their studies in terms of content and organization. This applies, for example, to catching up on study content, courses, examinations and external internships and also includes the provision of the necessary counselling services.

Post-qualification of teachers for physical education in primary schools

In September 2022, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany (Kultusministerkonferenz) adopted a recommendation on the "Post-qualification of teachers for physical education in primary schools" (‘Nachqualifizierung von Lehrkräften für den Sportunterricht in der Grundschule‘). The resolution is based on the "Joint Recommendations for Action by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder and the German Olympic Sports Confederation for the Further Development of School Sport 2017 to 2022" (‘Gemeinsame Handlungsempfehlungen der Kultusministerkonferenz und des Deutschen Olympischen Sportbundes zur Weiterentwicklung des Schulsports 2017 bis 2022‘), concretises the aspect of the deployment of qualified teachers in primary school physical education from the "Declaration of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany (KMK) on Quality Assurance in Primary School Physical Education" (‘Erklärung der Kultusministerkonferenz der Länder in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (KMK) zur Qualitätssicherung des Sportunterrichts im Primarbereich‘) of 2009 and takes into account the following resolutions of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs:

Ländergemeinsame inhaltliche Anforderungen für die Fachwissenschaften und Fachdidaktiken in der Lehrerbildung (Resolution of the Standing Conference of 16 October 2008 in the version of 16.05.2019),

Ländergemeinsame Eckpunkte zur Fortbildung von Lehrkräften als ein Bestandteil ihrer Professionalisierung in der dritten Phase der Lehrerbildung (Resolution of the Standing Conference of 12 March 2020).

In particular, the recommendation takes into account the results of the expert day "Quality assurance in school sport" held by the Commission for Sport on 18 September 2019 in Berlin, which are summarised in the report on the conceptualisation and implementation of post-qualification offers in the subject of sport for primary school teachers.

In order to continue to ensure a high quality of physical education, especially in the primary sector, which is particularly important for child development, qualified teachers who can plan and implement physical education lessons in a differentiated manner are required on the basis of the Länder-specific regulations.

Especially in view of the class teacher principle of many Länder within the primary school, a high-quality post-qualification for teachers who have not been trained in the subject of physical education is therefore of particular importance.

Measures to support refugee scientists and students from Ukraine

With the beginning of Russia's war against Ukraine, the Länder and the Federal Government have made significant efforts to counter the effects of the war. In the Lübeck Declaration, the ministers of the Federation and the Länder responsible for science declared their full solidarity with Ukrainian scientists and students. On the initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministeriums für Bildung und Forschung – BMBF), the science ministries of the Länder and the Alliance of Science Organisations, a central contact point for students and scientists was created at the German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst – DAAD), through which information on concrete support measures by the Federal Government, Länder, institutions of higher education, science organisations, student unions and foundations was bundled and made accessible.

The Länder are grateful to the higher education institutions for the numerous other support measures and offers. As an example, the so-called multifactor test, which serves as a substitute for the regular state examination for the acquisition of a Ukrainian higher education entrance qualification that will not take place in 2022, is being conducted at six German higher education institutions.