Exploring Heidelberg University
Founded in 1386, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest university and it was the third university established in the Holy Roman Empire on instruction of Pope Urban VI. More than 20% of the student body consists of international students from around 130 countries. In this blog, I would like to share what I find interesting about the university.
Campus
Heidelberg does not have a single campus. Rather, it comprises three major campuses: the humanities are predominantly located in Heidelberg's Altstadt (Old Town Campus), the natural sciences and medicine in the Neuenheimer Feld (New Campus), and the social sciences in Bergheim.
Spatial distribution of the three campuses
Of these three campuses, I am most familiar with the Old Town Campus. The center of the Old Town Campus is called Neuuniversitaet (New University), but don’t confuse it with the New Campus. A fun fact to this New University opened in 1931 is that its erection was largely financed by donations of wealthy American families. The old lecture halls in Altstadt decorated with frescoes and sculptures are themselves sights for visiting. The main library is also located in the Old Town Campus, and it is the most astonishing university library I have seen. The campus also holds the Rector's Office, the Old Assembly Hall, and the University Museum.
Neuen Universität (The New University)
The Old Assembly Hall
Separate Student Service
What is different from the US university system is that student services, such as housing and dining, are not provided directly by the university. There is instead a public organization – Studierendenwerk – that provides accommodations to university students. So if you want to live in student dorm, you have to sign in a contract with the Studierendenwerk.
My favorite dinning hall on campus - Marstall Mensa
Studentenverbindung
One thing I found interesting about student life at Heidelberg is the Studentenverbindung, which is comparable to the fraternity in the US. Their self-declared mission is to create a strong community characterized by the idea of lifelong and cross-generational friendship and connectedness. There are in total 34 fraternities. The oldest of all – the Corps Suevia – was founded in 1805. Despite playing an important role in Germany's student life in the 19th and early 20th century, these fraternities today include only a relatively small number of students.
Tuition
What we generally know is that public universities in Germany do not charge students for tuition. Students instead pay relatively low semester fees. This was true for all students at Heidelberg till last year. However, starting winter semester 2017/18, universities in Baden-Württemberg will begin charging tuition fees (a moderate fee amounting to EUR 1500 per semester) for non-EU international students. In addition, Germany's most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia is also looking to follow suit.
According to the Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst Baden-Württemberg, the fee is intended to keep universities open to non-EU-residents, maintain the high quality standards of education, and offer more advising opportunities for foreign students in Germany. However, it is also certain that the new fees will help local government bring in added revenues. In addition, the national makeup of the international student population will likely change with the introduction of fees. Students with a consumer mentality will come with higher expectations, and new strategies need to be developed to satisfy their growing expectation and innovate recruitment. It seems there is a lot going on with this simple act of having a tuition fee for non-EU students.
Students in Freiburg protesting last year before the fees for non-EU students became finalized. Photo: DPA
I am very curious at public reaction to this new fee. It seems there are two fears from the institutions and students respectively. The heads of institutions note that non-EU students more often come for mathematics, information technology, natural sciences and technology, and these are subjects that are in high demand on the German job market. Thus, these kinds of students should be courted, not scared away by bigger fees. In addition, the implication of charging non-EU students can also grow negative. Many students, both international and native, view the fee as a form of discrimination which violate the right to equal treatment. It seems that the public are in general critical about this additional tuition charged to non-EU students. Whether this additional fee would become an economic and social hindrance to attracting non-EU students coming to study in Baden-Württemberg is a question to be discussed. I am also curious to see whether other states in Germany, as well as other European countries, would follow this act. (How New Fees for Non-EU Students Could Hurt Germany Universities, DPA/The Local, 17 July 2017, https://www.thelocal.de/20170717/how-new-fees-for-non-eu-students-could-hurt-german-universities)