Limitations in Accessing Studies: NRW Falls Short of Federal Standard - Dutch student population falls short of the country's national average.
North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is leading the way in reducing access restrictions for higher education, according to the Centre for Higher Education (CHE). The winter semester 2025/2026 will see approximately one in four study programs in NRW with access restrictions, at 26.2%, which is lower than the national average of 32.5%.
The city of Essen has seen the most significant decline, with a decrease of 16 percentage points. NRW ranks 9th among the federal states in terms of access restrictions, showcasing the state's commitment to increasing university accessibility.
In NRW, engineering study offers have a low access restriction rate of 11.7%. However, the legal, economic, social, and social sciences have a higher access restriction rate of 36.5%. The difference in access restriction rates between universities and universities of applied sciences (HAW) in NRW is minimal, with rates of 24.5% and 23.0%, respectively.
Cities like Cologne have the highest rate of access restrictions among cities in NRW, at 40%, but there has been a 6 percentage point decline compared to the comparative period 2024/2025. Bochum has also seen a similar decline. The city of Duesseldorf has not been mentioned in relation to access restrictions in the given context.
NRW's lower access restrictions can be attributed to several factors. The state's government actively supports educational initiatives, including scholarships and funding programs. This financial commitment likely extends to supporting universities and enabling them to accept more students.
The regional educational structure in NRW also plays a role. The state has a diverse schooling system with comprehensive schools (Gesamtschulen) that prepare a broad range of students for higher education, potentially feeding more applicants into universities and necessitating lower access restrictions.
Strategic regional development efforts, such as those at Hochschule Niederrhein (HSNR), demonstrate a regional focus on innovation and sustainability, supporting more inclusive educational opportunities to meet local workforce and development needs.
These factors contribute to NRW's proactive approach in expanding educational opportunities through enhanced funding, structural educational policies, and regional development goals for the upcoming winter semester 2025/2026. However, specific policies or numbers detailing these lower restrictions were not explicitly stated in the available sources.
Paderborn has the lowest rate of access restrictions among cities in NRW, at 3%. This further underscores NRW's commitment to ensuring that higher education is accessible to a broad range of students. The state's efforts in reducing access restrictions are a testament to its dedication to fostering a vibrant and inclusive educational landscape.
[1] Bertelsmann Stiftung. (2025). Supporting international programs: Scholarships for the UN Summer Academy 2025. Retrieved from
[2] Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia. (n.d.). Comprehensive schools (Gesamtschulen). Retrieved from
[3] Hochschule Niederrhein. (n.d.). Innovation and sustainability. Retrieved from
- To foster a more inclusive educational landscape, the community policy in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) prioritizes vocational training alongside higher education, with a focus on offering scholarships and funding programs to support education-and-self-development and learning.
- To meet the local workforce and development needs, the vocational training programs in NRW are strategically integrated with universities, like at Hochschule Niederrhein (HSNR), to provide students with diverse learning opportunities that focus on innovation and sustainability.
