2021

Measures for handling the Corona virus

In order to continue to support institutions of higher education, teachers and students in dealing with the effects of the Corona pandemic, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs in the Federal Republic of Germany (Kultusministerkonferenz) has also decided on measures for the organisation of teaching in 2021. This was intended to give institutions of higher education as much flexibility as possible, but also reliability and planning security, while at the same time avoiding disadvantages for students. In addition, the higher education institutions, with great effort and support from the Länder, further accelerated the use and expansion of digital tools to maintain teaching operations during the Covid19 pandemic in 2021. The resulting flexibilisation can benefit non-traditional students (e.g. professionally qualified students or students with family responsibilities) as well as foreign students. The digitalisation of teaching can contribute to the opening of higher education institutions to target groups whose individual life situation makes it difficult to take up or continue a course of study that follows the framework conditions of an exclusively face-to-face institution.

The Corona pandemic poses financial challenges for many students. In connection with the pandemic, adjustments have been made to the implementation of the Federal Training Assistance Act (Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetz – BAföG) so that students do not suffer any disadvantages due to the pandemic. For example, corona-related study delays are recognised as a serious reason for funding beyond the maximum funding period. The Länder have also adopted regulations on extending the standard individual period of study, which are directly implemented in the BAföG. Special regulations have also been made in the BAföG for the promotion of education abroad. For example, since the 2020/21 winter semester, study programmes abroad have been eligible for funding under certain conditions even if they are completed entirely online without a stay in the host country.

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung – BMBF) has created a bridging aid for students who do not meet the criteria of the BAföG (e.g. exceeding the standard period of study, second degree) – or for those who find themselves in a pandemic-related emergency situation despite receiving support. This comprises two elements: the long-standing student loan from the Reconstruction Loan Corporation (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau – KfW) and grants distributed by the student unions.

• The students concerned can apply for a loan from KfW, which has been interest-free for all since May 2020 and will remain so until the end of 2021, and for which the application process was also open to foreign students from June 2020 to March 2021. This group can continue to draw the loan until the end of their respective studies in Germany. The interest-free loan can be paid out in an amount of up to 650 euros per month and can be applied for online in an unbureaucratic way.
• In addition, the BMBF, through the German Student Services Association (Deutsches Studentenwerk - DSW) and the local student and student services organizations, has provided Euro 100 million for students in pandemic related emergency situations. Recently, the student labour market has recovered noticeably, so that the number of applications for bridging assistance as a grant has declined steadily in recent months. For this reason, the BMBF and the DSW have agreed to phase out the grant programme as planned after 30 September 2021.

Some Länder have set up their own emergency funds.

Numerous legal adjustments were made in the Länder to counter the effects of the pandemic on the operations of higher education institutions. For example, some regulations were created to allow exams to be taken online.

In May 2020, the Federal Government amended the Academic Fixed-Term Contract Law (Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz – WissZeitVG) and extended the statutory maximum limit for academic and artistic staff in their qualification phase as part of a transitional arrangement.

In addition, the BMBF has made use of all possibilities for more flexibility in project funding, for example by granting appropriate extensions of project duration. Similarly, the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft – DFG), with the support of its funding bodies, provided a wide range of compensatory, bridging and phase-out funding at an early stage and created opportunities for project extensions. Other funding organizations, such as the German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst – DAAD) or the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH), have also taken appropriate measures.

2020

Model Paragraph for the Procedures of Institutional Accreditation

In February 2020, the Standing Conference agreed to orientate themselves in future Länder-legal regulations on the model paragraph for the procedures of institutional accreditation of non-governmental higher education institutions drawn up by the Standing Conference. The aim is to create an overall structure of institutional quality assurance across the Länder.

2019

State Treaty on Admission to Higher Education

With the State Treaty on Admission to Higher Education (Staatsvertrag über die Hochschulzulassung), which came into force on December 1, 2019, the system for allocating study places was fundamentally reformed. In particular, the quota system for the allocation of study places in the central allocation procedure – currently including the study programmes medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and pharmacy – was reorganized, with the abolition of the waiting period quota. The new State Treaty replaces the State Treaty of the Länder on the Establishment of a Joint Institution for Higher Education Admission (Staatsvertrag der Länder über die Errichtung einer gemeinsamen Einrichtung für Hochschulzulassung).

With the new State Treaty on Admission to Higher Education, higher education institutions can now also include admission-free study programmes in the dialogue-oriented service procedure (Dialogorientiertes Serviceverfahren – DoSV), making the effects of multiple admissions matching even more widely available.

Agreement between the Federation and the Länder Contract for the Future of Higher Education and Teaching

With the agreement between the Federation and the Länder Contract for the Future of Higher Education and Teaching (Zukunftsvertrag Studium und Lehre stärken ) adopted in 2019 as the successor agreement to the Higher Education Pact (Hochschulpakt), the Federation and the Länder are aiming to improve the quality of studies and teaching from 2021 onwards and to maintain study capacities in Germany in line with demand. The permanent funding can be used in particular to support the expansion of permanent employment contracts for personnel involved in studies and teaching. The Federal Government will provide Euro 1.88 billion annually from 2021 to 2023 and Euro 2.05 billion annually on a permanent basis from 2024 onwards. The Länder will provide additional funds to at least the same amount, so that the Contract for the Future will provide a joint billion-euro investment of around Euro 3.8 billion annually until 2023 and a total of Euro 4.1 billion annually from 2024 to promote studies and teaching.

Federation-Länder agreement Innovation in Higher Education Teaching

In May 2019, the Joint Science Conference (Gemeinsame Wissenschaftskonferenz – GWK) adopted the new Federation-Länder agreement Innovation in Higher Education Teaching (Innovation in der Hochschullehre). Important objectives of the agreement are to promote the further development of higher education teaching and to strengthen it in the higher education system as a whole. To this end, the Foundation for Innovation in Higher Education Teaching (Stiftung Innovation in der Hochschullehre) was established under the auspices of the Toepfer Stiftung gGmbH. Appropriate funding formats are intended to motivate institutions of higher education to continue their efforts to improve quality and innovations in teaching and learning. In addition, the exchange and networking of relevant actors is to be supported. In 2020, the foundation published the funding announcement "Strengthening higher education teaching through digitization". With regard to the Corona pandemic, the development and testing of concepts of blended learning and online teaching are to be supported. In addition, institutions of higher education are to be supported in the further development and implementation of digitization strategies.

The Federation and the Länder provide up to Euro 150 million annually to promote innovation in teaching at higher education institutions. Funding will be provided by the Federation between 2021 and 2023 and jointly from 2024 onwards, with the Federation providing Euro 110 million and the Länder Euro 40 million annually.

Recommendations for digitisation in higher education teaching

In March 2019, the Standing Conference adopted the "Recommendations on Digitisation in Higher Education Teaching" ('Empfehlungen zur Digitalisierung in der Hochschullehre‘) to implement and supplement its strategy "Education in the Digital World" ('Bildung in der digitalen Welt‘). Alongside research, teaching is one of the core tasks of higher education and is of central importance for the digitisation of higher education institutions. In order to support the profitable use of digital elements, there is a need for support for teachers, the further development of curricula and the consideration of digitisation in the strategic development of higher education institutions. The recommendations were developed in a broad dialogue process involving all important stakeholders in the higher education sector and the teachers themselves. They take up the thematic fields of the Strategy and provide impulses and suggestions for shaping the digital transformation in all areas of higher education institutions and across higher education institutions.

The recommendations are addressed to the Länder and the Federation, as well as to the administrations of higher education institutions, the faculties, the departments and the higher education teachers themselves. Just like the formulation, the implementation should also take place together with the relevant actors in the higher education sector.

In December 2020, the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany presented a "Report of the Steering Group on the Implementation of the Strategy 'Education in the Digital World'" ('Bericht der Lenkungsgruppe zur Umsetzung der Strategie "Bildung in der digitalen Welt"'), which presents the measures taken by the Länder to implement the strategy, also against the background of the impact of the Corona pandemic on education.