Greifswald welcomes 1,500 new students: A semester full of opportunities!

Greifswald welcomes 1,500 new students: A semester full of opportunities!

Things are getting busy again in Greifswald: on Monday, October 13, 2025, the university will welcome around 1,500 new students. Traditionally, the ceremonial matriculation takes place in the impressive Greifswald Cathedral, which for many students is not only a place of learning but also of inspiration. Around 60 percent of the new faces come from other federal states, while around a third come from the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania region itself. Internationally it will also be colorful, as ten percent of the new students have come from over 50 countries, which underlines the multicultural flair of the university. NDR has already examined these numbers in detail.

However, the exciting time of enrollment comes during a challenging phase for the universities in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. A look at the current student numbers shows that the decline in enrollment is continuing. Loud Education mirror The state recorded a decline of 3.4 percent in the 2023/24 winter semester compared to the previous year, which means 1,299 fewer students. The technical colleges in Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Stralsund, which have 898 fewer students, are particularly affected.

Popular courses and a stable trend

However, the University of Greifswald has retained its popularity in certain disciplines. Popular subjects continue to be medicine, law, business administration and teaching. Enrollments in open-admission courses are possible until the end of October, which gives prospective students some leeway to make their decision. In addition, from next year onwards, the teacher training course will be more practice-oriented in accordance with the new teacher training law, so that future teachers will be better prepared for their professional challenges.

In total, around 9,600 students are enrolled at the University of Greifswald. With a stable enrollment of around 1,500 freshmen in recent years, one might think that the situation is not too critical. But the downward trend shows that universities in the region are facing major challenges, as the educational gap shows. In the 2023 exam year, 6,711 students successfully completed their studies, which represents a slight increase of 1.0 percent.

Conclusion and outlook

Greifswald is not only known for its university, but also as the home of the painter Caspar David Friedrich. According to current results, the city can still look back on a flourishing university landscape with a wide range of offerings. However, universities urgently need to find new ways to keep student numbers stable and perhaps even increase them again. It remains exciting to see how the situation will develop in the coming years. The opportunity to enroll in open-enrollment courses until the end of October offers new students a lot of potential to actively shape their educational path.

Further information on the current student situation in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is also available Statista to find.