More than 400,000 people from all over the world study at our universities, more than ever before. They are of enormous value to our science system and our economy. Around 40 percent of a cohort of international students stay in Germany after graduation. According to calculations by the Institute of the German Economy, they flush more than 15 billion euros into our state coffers. International students also enrich our society: they promote international understanding, break down prejudices and create personal bridges between countries and cultures.

Due to the Trump administration's repressive measures against international students, their enrolment at US universities is collapsing rapidly, according to the latest data. Many globally mobile students are looking for other countries. If Germany wants to remain attractive to them, we need massive investments in the social foundation of our higher education system. This is the only way to make the internationalisation strategy successful that the federal and state governments have jointly developed. The motto here is: Go big or go home!  

Many of the international students struggle with bureaucracy, have problems financing their studies, are mentally stressed or do not have enough social contacts. Above all, finding accommodation is an enormous challenge. Most international students currently come from India, China and Turkey. For many of them, the doors on the private housing market in Germany remain closed.

This is where the Studierendenwerke – the public student service agencies – can help. They make available around 45 percent of their approximately 200,000 places in residence halls to international students. At the same time, they promote integration and participation through student residence hall tutors. They help you find your way around in a foreign country, prevent loneliness, maybe even invite you to parties and thus help to develop friendships. These offers are a decisive contribution to socio-academic integration – but so far they have only been financially supported by the Free State of Bavaria and the Saarland. International students also make intensive use of the psychological and social counselling services provided by the Studierendenwerke.

In order for internationalisation to succeed, the student unions must also be taken into account in future state funding programs. In particular, the federal-state program "Young Housing", which was launched in 2023, can provide a remedy in the medium and long term, because the Studierendenwerke can use these funds to create more affordable housing for international students – if the federal states implement the program vigorously. And the municipalities provide low-cost land.

At the same time, we need political realism: the fact that all those involved in the higher education system – the federal and state governments, universities, the DAAD, Studierendenwerke – demand and promote internationalisation does not mean that it is viewed positively everywhere. Xenophobic tendencies threaten to poison the climate.

The rise of right-wing extremism in Germany is a heavy burden on the internationalisation of our universities and poison for all efforts to attract skilled workers from abroad. Science thrives on cross-border exchange. The social reality is different in many places.

But we can do a lot: We have almost three million students in Germany, plus more than 800,000 university employees and 19,000 employees in the Studierendenwerke. If these people alone are committed to cosmopolitanism and against discrimination and right-wing extremism – then a lot has already been gained.

Caption: Matthias Anbuhl, 55, is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the German National Association for Student Affairs (Deutsches Studierendenwerk – DSW) 

Translated from the German original with the help of artificial intelligence.