The new ZEIT Study Guide 2024/2025 publishes excerpts from the current university ranking by the CHE Center for Higher Education Development. In addition to facts on the areas of study, teaching and research, the ranking includes the opinions of 120,000 students on their universities.

“The current results show that prospective students in Germany can start their studies with a good feeling. Universities have expanded their advisory and support services, especially after the covid-19-pandemic,” summarizes Frank Ziegele, Managing Director of the CHE. “Four out of five departments at German universities currently offer so-called preliminary or bridging courses to close knowledge gaps and get to know the academic world and the university before starting their studies.”

Nationwide, there is a high level of satisfaction with the overall study situation. More than half of all departments assessed received top marks from students for their study situation. The entire ranking is available online at HeyStudium (in German) and www.university-ranking.de (in English).

In addition to the university ranking, the 292-page ZEIT Study Guide offers tips and checklists on choosing a degree course, the numerus clausus and getting off to a successful start, as well as detailed insights into 36 subjects, including 15 newly ranked subjects such as computer science, medicine, political science and sociology. “For many people, deciding what to do after leaving school is not only associated with positive feelings,” says Martin Spiewak, Editor-in-Chief of the ZEIT Study Guide. “In view of the wealth of possibilities, the anticipation of the new phase of life can quickly be mixed with a feeling of being overwhelmed. With the ZEIT Study Guide, we want to encourage students and help them to see the bigger picture.”

The CHE University Ranking, which appears exclusively in the ZEIT Study Guide and on HeyStudium by ZEIT ONLINE, has been the most comprehensive and detailed comparison of universities in the German-speaking world for more than 25 years, with around 120,000 students surveyed. The ranking includes students’ assessments of the study conditions at their university as well as facts about studies, teaching and research for more than 10,000 degree programs at German universities.