Overview
- The CHE reported 10,270 completions by people without the Abitur in 2024, lifting the cumulative total since the access opening to 104,941.
- Roughly 70,000 students without the school‑leaving exam are enrolled now, equal to 2.4% of all students, with overall numbers steady.
- First‑semester entrants in this group edged up to about 13,000, or 2.7% of all freshmen, indicating gradual growth.
- Bremen now leads state shares of these first‑year students at 5.8%, followed by Thuringia at 5.0% and Hamburg at 4.5%.
- FernUniversität in Hagen enrolled the largest cohort of first‑semester students without the Abitur at 1,128, ahead of FOM with 925 and IU in Erfurt with 816.