Interesting Facts about Studying with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses
This website provides a wealth of information, facts and figures on the subject of studying with disabilities and chronic illnesses. Further information is linked. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions, suggestions or requests!
Facts and Figures
In recent years, students with disabilities and chronic illnesses have been asked about their study situation in various surveys. The most important results of the investigations can be found below. You can find the detailed examinations on the website of the Information and Advice Center for Studies and Disability (IBS) of the German Student Union.
The data from the 22nd Social Survey was collected from May to September 2021, i.e. over a period in which the coronavirus pandemic was subsiding - and war, inflation and the price crisis were not foreseeable. The students came from three lockdown semesters during the survey period. The data and figures must be viewed in this context. Further information can be found here.
22nd Social Survey by the German Student Union
The following are the most important results of the 22nd Social Survey (2021) by the German Student Union. This summarizes the health impairments and the associated study difficulties. The entire study and previous studies can be found on the official webpage of the Social Survey and at IBS.
More and more students state that physical, mental or sensory impairments make their studies more difficult.
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16% of all students state one or more study-related impairments (2016: 11%, 2012: 7%).
- 59% of students with impairments state that their impairment has a strong or very strong impact on their studies (similar findings from 2012 and 2016). Although the proportion of students with a severe impairment has increased overall, the extent of the impairment has remained mostly stable over time.
- 65% of students with impairments state that they have a mental illness, making them the largest group in 2021 (among the study-relevant impairments; increase of 10% compared to 2016 with 55%, increase of 20% compared to 2012 with 45%).
- Students with an equally severe multiple impairment (72.5%) or a mental illness (66.1%) are the most likely to report a (very) severe study difficulty.
Students with impairments compared to their fellow students ...
- interrupt their studies much more often (and for longer) (2021: 20% vs. 10%; 2016: 32% vs. 13%; 2012: 27% vs. 8%),
- change courses more often (2021: 36,5% vs. 23,6%; 2016: 31% vs. 21%; 2012: 28% vs. 16%) or the university (2021: 27% vs. 19%; 2016: 22% vs. 16%; 2012: as in 2016).
- In order to measure academic progress, the ECTS points achieved during the program are compared to the number of semesters studied. Students without study-relevant impairments achieve an average of 19 ECTS points per semester, students with study-relevant impairments achieve an average of 17 ECTS points per semester.
- see the financing of their livelihood as secure less often (2021: 66,1% vs. 79,1%; 2016: 49% vs. 70%; 2012: 53% vs. 70%).