Despite the restrictions associated with the coronavirus crisis and the measures imposed to contain the pandemic, Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Technische Universität Berlin are yet to record a noticeable decline in numbers of students registering for the 2020 summer semester.

A number of precautionary measures have been implemented since mid-March in order to prevent infections in the institutions making up the Berlin University Alliance. The start of the summer semester was postponed by a week, and all events up to July 20, 2020 were canceled. The universities were able to operate largely without physical contact by offering a wide range of digital teaching and learning opportunities. The enrollment figures for the 2020 summer semester at Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Technische Universität Berlin hardly changed during the “digital semester.” The number of students requesting to withdraw from the university has also remained more or less unchanged. Conclusive figures will only be available after the end of the semester, in mid-October at the earliest.

The total number of enrollments for the 2020 summer semester (35,232) at Freie Universität Berlin remained stable in comparison with the enrollment figures for the summer semester from the previous year (35,897). With 1,248 new enrollments, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin recorded a decline of 2.8 percent. This semester, there were 1,184 new registrations for bachelor’s degree programs and 1,019 for master’s degrees at the Technische Universität Berlin. The respective figures for the previous year were 1,221 and 1,034 new students. The data for the 2020 summer semester also reflects the lower number of exchange students, which was strongly affected by the travel restrictions.