The Federal Statistical Office Germany has just presented the most recent statistics for German higher education institutions. According to first provisional results for 2005/2006, about 1 982 million students are currently enrolled at institutions of higher education in Germany (one percent up from the preceding year). First-year students are at 351 900, two percent down from 2004 (358 900). In 2004/2005, 1 963 million students were enrolled in German higher education institutions. Compared to 2003/2004, this figure has decreased by three percent.

The main reason for the overall decrease in enrolments since 2003/2004 is the introduction of tuition fees in a number of German “Länder” and its effect on long-term and second-degree students. The number of long-term students (counting those who have been enrolled in the same subject for 15 semesters or seven-and-a-half years or more) has decreased by 28 percent across Germany, mainly in Nordrhein–Westphalen, Hessen and Rheinland-Pfalz. The number of second-degree students - for a long time a convenient means to keep the student status and its benefits – has gone down by 36 percent.