The student survey provides a comprehensive picture of the study and life situation of around 2.9 million students in Germany. It is the largest current student survey in Germany; it provides data on the (digital) study and life situation, on the social and financial conditions of all students, but also on topics such as students' political orientations.
The survey provides important empirical findings for education and higher education policy at federal and state level. Partners, the press, media and the public are also provided with comprehensive information. The topics covered include social and economic conditions, studies and study conditions, attitudes and participation as well as educational paths..
... is the most comprehensive student survey in Germany to date and covers a wide range of topics relating to studying.
... provides an important basis for decision-making and data for various stakehoulders:for higher education and education policy in Germany, for universities, for student services associations, and for students.
... is a central component of education monitoring in Germany; the data supplement the official statistics with information that no other source offers.
... contains a wide range of information on the university landscape, the study situation and digitalisation.
... provides science, but also universities and student services associations with an empirical basis for counselling and research purposes.
... also takes into account small groups of students who fall through the cracks of conventional surveys, for example students with children or students with study-impairing disabilities that make studying difficult, students on dual or part-time degree programs, and students without a school-leaving qualification for university entrance.
... selects its participants at random in order to be able to make representative statements and guarantees the students complete anonymity.
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What is the history of the student survey?
- In 2021, ‘One for All: The Student Survey in Germany 2021’ was conducted for the first time in a new format and design. In the run-up to the survey, the following major long-term survey series, which had previously been conducted independently, were integrated:
- ‘The Social Survey of the German National Association for Sudent Affairs and the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies on the Economic and Social Situation of Students’
- The Student Survey - Study Situation and Student Orientations by the University of Konstanz Research Group on Higher Education
- The study 'beeinträchtigt studieren' (best) examines the situation of students with disabilities that make studying difficult.
- The European study series 'EUROSTUDENT' on the situation of students in many European countries.
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What exactly is being asked?
The student survey in Germany provides data on the (digital) study situation, student satisfaction, difficulties in studying and everyday life, student financing, the social profile of students (i.a. age, gender, migration background, social background), educational and study progress, international mobility, professional, social and political attitudes, housing, use of canteens, but also the situation of students with study-related disabilities or students with children.
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How does the student survey work?
The participating higher education institutions randomly invite every third of their students to participate in the student survey. With almost 2.9 million students enrolled at German universities, that is almost one million potential participants.
The survey is realised as an online survey and is conducted by the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW). The survey is carried out anonymously and data protection conditions are strictly adhered to.
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What happens to the data? / How is data protection guaranteed?
Your anonymity and data protection is guaranteed because:
- the invitation to the survey and the performance of the survey are carried out separately. You will recieve an invitation to participate by your higher education institution, but the survey and analysis is carried out by the staff of the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW) . It is not possible to link address data with survey data.
- higher education institutions will not know what you have answered individually
- evaluation of the data is carried out in strict compliance with data protection regulations and the results are published in such a way that no conclusions can be drawn about individuals.
The survey fulfils all applicable quality standards. The ‘Guidelines for Online Surveys’ of the ADM (Arbeitskreis Deutscher Markt- und Sozialforschungsinstitute e. V.) are binding for the DZHW.
The quality assurance standards for online research adopted in 2001 apply. These were developed specifically for market and social research by the Working Group of Social Science Institutes (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Sozialwissenschaftlicher Institute - ASI), the German Society for Online Research (D.G.O.F.), the Professional Association of German Market and Social Researchers (BVM) and the Working Group of German Market and Social Research Institutes (ADM). In addition to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the ethical standars for quality assurance in online Research that were jointly developed by ASI are also the basis of our activity.
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What is the data used for?
The survey data is analysed anonymously by researchers from the DZHW The Scientific Use File (SUF) is also available to scientists for their research work via the DZHW Research Data Centre. Of course, all applicable data protection regulations are strictly adhered to, so that no conclusions can be drawn about individual response behaviour. In addition to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the ethical standards for quality assurance in online research that are jointly developed by the Working Group of Social Science Institutes (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Sozialwissenschaftlicher Institute - ASI) are also the basis for our activities.
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Who is involved?
The student survey in Germany is conducted by the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW). The German National Association for Student Affairs (DSW) is a co-operation partner. The study is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
The German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW) is a research institute based in Hanover and funded by the German federal and state governments. As an international centre of excellence for higher education and science research, the DZHW collects and analyses data, produces research-based services for higher education and science policy, and makes its own and external data sets available to the scientific community via a research data centre. In the field of student research, the DZHW has been conducting various surveys since 1976 and can draw on many years of expertise in both methodological and content-related questions about studying.
The German National Association for Student Affair (Deutsches Studentenwerk - DSW) is the association of 57 student and student services associations in Germany, which support students on behalf of the state, among other things with refectories, halls of residence, the implementation of the BAföG, with psychological counselling and social counselling, childcare as well as offers for foreign students or students with disabilities. The German National Association for Student Affairs first developed and conducted a social survey on the economic and social situation of students in 1951; thereafter, the social survey was established as a regular student survey. For more than 70 years, the social surveys of the German National Association for Student Affairs have drawn a realistic picture of the social and economic situation of students; it is considered one of the most important and largest educational studies in Germany.
