Graduate numbers from higher education institutions see a slight rise
In a significant milestone, German universities witnessed an increase in the number of graduates in the academic year 2024. Approximately 511,600 students graduated, marking a 1.9% rise from the previous year, according to data provided by the Federal Statistical Office.
The increase represents nearly 10,000 more students. This includes 31,000 traditional university and artistic degrees, but does not include teaching degrees or those from universities of applied sciences.
Every quarter of the graduates earned a degree in engineering, accounting for 25% of the total. The humanities accounted for 9% of the degrees awarded, while mathematics and natural sciences received 11%. In the field of medicine, 7% of the degrees were awarded. The remaining 6% were distributed among fields such as sports, forestry, or art sciences.
Around 41% of degrees awarded in 2024 were in the fields of law, economics, and social sciences. In the teaching sector, every tenth graduate was in teaching, with 49,700 students graduating in this field. Of these teaching graduates, 19,100 were bachelor's degrees, and 10,400 state examination degrees were awarded to teaching graduates.
The number of bachelor's degrees increased by 0.8% to 245,600 compared to the previous year. The total number of master's and state examination degrees that qualify for teaching increased by 5% from 29,000 to 30,600 compared to the previous year. With 20,200 master's degrees, 6% of all completed exams were awarded to teaching graduates.
The number of master's degrees also increased by 1.9% to 149,300. With 28,200, 6% of all completed exams were postgraduate degrees. However, there are no accessible statistics for the exact number of completed postgraduate study programs in German universities in 2025; the latest detailed data covers Bachelor and Master degrees up to 2023, with 146,484 Master's graduates recorded in 2023.
In conclusion, the academic year 2024 saw a significant rise in the number of graduates from German universities. The data highlights the diversity of fields students are pursuing, with engineering, humanities, mathematics and natural sciences, medicine, and teaching being the most popular choices. The increase in the number of master's degrees indicates a growing trend towards postgraduate studies. Despite the absence of data for postgraduate degrees in 2025, the trend of increasing graduation numbers is expected to continue.
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