Only 40% German students finish study as intended

Only 39.9 percent of German students graduated in the so-called standard period of study in 2012, announced by German Federal Statistical Office on Monday in Wiesbaden. In Germany, 6-semester bachelor program and 4-semester master program are the so-called standard period of study in which students should complete their studies in the university. Bachelor's graduates with 49.4 percent are among the highest graduation rate in standard period of study, as the study said. Compared to 2010 and 2011, when a total of 38.6 percent and 38.5 percent of graduates could finish their studies in the normal period respectively, the rate of 2012 goes a little bit higher. However, the most German students don't need much longer than the standard period of study, as 77 percent of German students graduated two semesters after the standard period of study and master graduates reached even the highest rate of 90.5 percent, when they could study two more semesters. According to the study, the students graduated fastest in subjects like management scientist, human medicine, social services, math, science and special education in Germany, whereas the slowest graduates are from subjects like sports science, philosophy, history, protestant theology and German. Meanwhile, the study also showed that more than one in four undergraduate students did not finish their studies and an average of 28 percent broke off their university education. The particularly high dropout rates are among mathematicians, computer scientists, engineers and nature scientists in Germany.