University funding lagging

Germany is still failing to spend enough on universities to keep pace with rising student numbers, the OECD has said.

The latest Education at a Glance report, published on 12 September, found that Germany spends 1.2 per cent of its GDP on universities, putting it behind the United States, Canada, the UK, Japan, France and Russia. Annual spending per student on core educational services in tertiary education, not including R&D, stands at $9,252 (€7,700), which is below the OECD average of $10,348 and far below the US figure of $23,014.

With R&D and ancillary services included, Germany spends $17,180 per student on tertiary education each year, above the OECD average of $16,143 but behind Australia, Canada, Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US.