The Social Survey is a long-term study of the economic and social situation of students in Germany. It is unique throughout the world and has been carried out since 1951, usually at three-year intervals, interviewing a representative cross-section of students registered at higher education institutions (HEIs) in Germany.
The German National Association for Student Affairs (DSW)’s 21st Social Survey began in October 2014. It is carried out by the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW) as part of a joint project with the German National Association for Student Affairs (DSW). The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
Instead of a pencil-and-paper survey, as in previous years, the 21st Social Survey will be carried out online. This enables us to considerably enlarge the sample, so that information from students belonging to smaller groups (e.g. students with a particular migrant background, students with no school-leavers’ higher education entrance qualification, students on combined academic/vocational programmes) will be available for analysis in sufficient numbers. This makes it possible to expand the provision of regional counts and analyses (e.g. for federal states, student affairs associations, HEI locations, HEIs).
The survey of students will take place in the summer semester 2016. Reports of previous surveys, regional counts and other materials can be viewed on the project website and downloaded free of charge.
Projektsteckbrief (in German)