Overview
- Thuringia’s education ministry confirmed the college will stop taking new students from the 2026/2027 school year and be phased out.
- The decision follows an audit noting about €1 million in annual costs, low completion rates of 25 last year and 9 of 27 the year before, and a decline from over 100 students to 64 in a decade.
- The Weimar institution is currently the state’s only free, full-time three-year route for adults to obtain the Abitur.
- Current students may complete their programs as planned, with final Abitur exams expected roughly two years after new admissions cease.
- Officials point to Volkshochschulen and distance-study options, while school leaders, students and politicians from Linke, the Greens and the Jusos urge the government to reverse the closure.