Fight against falling students: Aalen University under pressure!

Fight against falling students: Aalen University under pressure!

In the charming city of Aalen, there are currently discussions about the future orientation of the university, which celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2024. However, there is a worrying trend behind the celebrations: the number of registration has been steadily decreasing for several years. Where almost 6,000 students were on the courses of the university, it is only 4,200 in the study year 2025. This acceptance is confirmed by insider circles and worries many responsible, because it could result in long -term consequences for the financial resources of the Institution, such as the Swabian Post reported.

The current signs of registration show a drastic decline, and it is to be hoped that the trend is reversed by 2030, as Rector Dr. Harald Riegel forecast. "The sunken figures concern university financing," says Riegel, "because the calculations are based on 5778 students from 2019/2020." This means that the university has to pay compensatory services. Despite all of this, the scientific staff is motivated, and it is already being worked on on savings opportunities without endangering the quality of teaching.

variety of causes

dr. Riegel leads "multidimensional reasons" for the decline in the number of students. An important point is the declining interest in MINT subjects (mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology), which could be a problem in a university with a strong technical focus. There were significant declines in particular in the areas of mechanical engineering, sometimes influenced by negative media reporting over the industry. According to the [Science Council] (https://www.

Wolfgang Wick, chairman of the Science Council, emphasizes that not only a decline, but also heterogeneous growth in different subjects and regions can be observed. The focus of the university should be postponed from mere enrollment to the quality of the course. This is particularly important in order to produce more well -trained specialists for the labor market - a necessity that is becoming increasingly pressing in view of the demographic challenges.

action instead of standstill

A ray of hope are the well -asked health courses that have more stable registration numbers. "Today's students are increasingly internationally oriented," says Dr. Riegel optimistic. The university reacts with the introduction of new courses in order to better meet the current needs and also to address new target groups such as working people and parents.

According to the [Hochschulbildungreport] (https://www.hochschulbildungreport.de/abluflz report/Mint- Formation), MINT subjects in particular have good future prospects, although the international exchange decreased sharply due to the COVID-19 pandemy. Around half of all international students decide to study MINT, which underlines the importance of these subjects on the labor market. However, it is essential to increase the attractiveness of the MINT courses in order to stop the decline in the number of students in the long term.

The Aalen University of Applied Sciences is on the right track by taking new ways and doing their responsibility in university formation. In the future it will be important to actively tackle the challenges of demographic change in order to keep the university future -proof and to offer the students a high quality of training.