topic Research

The Reform of Higher Education Admission

The new regulation of the allocation of study places in study courses with national restriction concerns all those courses in which study places were allocated by the ZVS so far. What is new is, first and foremost, that 60% of these study places will be allocated by the institutions of higher education in the future.

The new procedure is to be applied already for the winter semester 2005/06. 

The new distribution of quotas 20:20:60

The 7th HRGÄndG provides for a so-called 20-20-60 regulation for the distribution of quotas in the allocation of study places in study courses with national restriction: 20% of the study places go to the best Abitur graduates, who can freely chose an institution of higher education. 20% of the study places are allocated according to waiting periods. The majority of the study places, i.e. 60%, will be directly allocated by the institutions of higher education.

The proposed amendment thus takes up the recommendations of the Science Council on the reform of admission to higher education of 30 January 2004, which aims primarily at a more active participation of institutions of higher education in the admission of students. The average Abitur grade receives the recommended strong weight as a selection criterion.

The requirements for selection procedures stipulated by the Federal Constitutional Court in its ruling have also been taken into account. The essential criteria for the selection of prospective students in particular will in future, too, be regulated in the Framework Act for Higher Education.

Background and Figures

The ZVS annually allocates almost 39 000 study places nation-wide to students in the first regular semester (the Land NC study courses in North Rhine-Westphalia not included). There are currently seven ZVS study courses which fall under national restrictions: biology, medicine, pharmacy, psychology, veterinary medicine and dental medicine, and business studies; the latter, however, this winter semester for the last time.

The ZVS allocation procedure has a practical significance beyond allocation as such: Study places restricted at Land or local level are often allocated on the basis of the ZVS procedure - i.e. currently according to the average Abitur grade and waiting period.

The new regulation in detail

The new law provides for the following specifically:

After deduction of the special quotas, 20% of the study places which exist at the different institutions of higher education in a specific study course are allocated to the best Abitur graduates nationwide. Another 20% of the study places are allocated according to waiting periods. The remaining 60% of the study places are allocated at the level of institutions of higher education according to the results of a selection procedure of the higher education institution.

The study places are allocated according to the following criteria in particular in this selection procedure:

• degree of qualification under section 27 (average grade of school leaving certificate),
• weighted individual grades of the school leaving certificate which provide information on the subject-specific aptitude,
• result of a subject-specific scholastic aptitude test,
• type of vocational training or employment, if any, or
• result of an interview which is to provide information on the motivation for and identification with the selected study course and the desired occupation as well as to prevent misdirected ideas,
• or a combination of these criteria.

The Land law can provide for further criteria such as extracurricular activities and can set further requirements for the selection procedure of institutions of higher education, e.g. the obligatory application of additional criteria besides the average Abitur grade.

The average Abitur grade must be given major influence in the selection procedure. I.e. the school leaving grade must be taken into consideration while the other criteria can be applied optionally unless there area other regulations under Land law to the contrary. If one or several other criteria are applied, the average grade must be given major weight in the selection decision. The ranking of applicants, which is necessary for the decision on admission, can, for example, be structured 60% by average grade and 40% by test result or 40% by average grade, 30% by test result and 30% by the results of an interview.

The interview, which is possible within the framework of selection by institutions of higher education, is to provide information on the motivation for and identification with the selected study course and the desired occupation as well as to prevent misdirected ideas.  Its purpose is therefore not the ascertainment of a general or specific scholastic aptitude. An interview of usually 30 minutes is not suited for obtaining valid results in this area. The general scholastic aptitude is ascertained by the school leaving examination which also includes the performance of the last two years at school. Suitable criteria to ascertain a specific scholastic aptitude are relevant specific school grades and specific scholastic aptitude tests.

Within the framework of selection procedure at institutions of higher education, internal quotas can also be established, e.g. direct admission up to a certain average grade and then application of the other criteria.

The number of applicants in a selection procedure can be limited (pre-selection). The pre-selection takes place according to the following criteria chosen by the institution of higher education:

• degree of qualification under section 27 (average grade of school leaving certificate),
• weighted individual grades of the school leaving certificate which provide information on the subject-specific aptitude,
• result of a subject-specific scholastic aptitude test,
• type of vocational training or employment if any,
• degree of preference of location
• or a combination of these criteria.

Institutions of higher education can thus decide whether they want to invite the best pupils regardless of the candidates' preferred location. This is equivalent to the application of a local NC when institutions of higher education do not know whether the applicants applied elsewhere as well. Alternatively, institutions of higher education can also focus on applicants with a strongly preferred location if they consider a special identification with the higher education institutions as such to be desirable beyond identification with the subject.

For students, the number of possible applications at different institutions of higher education can be limited to a minimum of six in the different quotas. This is similar to the English application system. In a draft allocation regulation based on a Bundesrat proposal, the Länder had foreseen a limitation to just two applications. This seems to be insufficient. Such a limitation would make forecasts concerning success of applications too difficult for applicants.

A central body - the ZVS - will take over the coordination and service function in the new procedure described by the Science Council.

Further schedule for the new procedure

The 7th HRGÄndG which was passed by Bundestag and Bundesrat in July has been published in the Federal Law Gazette and thus entered into force. A number of implementation steps must be accomplished in the Länder by the beginning of 2005 so that the new procedure can be applied already in winter semester 2005/06, as foreseen. Work on the necessary changes in an interstate agreement, an allocation regulation, Land legislation on higher education and statutes of institutions of higher education is being conducted under full steam.

What precisely will change for new entrants and from when on will be explained in due course in ZVS-Info, which is published every semester by the ZVS.