More and more seniors in BW: Education Euphoria at the universities!

More and more seniors in BW: Education Euphoria at the universities!

In Baden-Württemberg, a remarkable trend can be observed: more and more seniors are starting a degree. This development shows that the pursuit of knowledge and spiritual challenge does not end even in old age. According to the country's Ministry of Science, a total of 477 people who are 60 years and older have visited lectures and seminars in the winter semester 2022/23. In the previous year there were 418 people in this age group, which is an increase that underlines the willingness of seniors for further training.

The numbers are impressive and indicate that the proportion of older students is almost twice as high compared to ten years ago. Interestingly, this is partially attributed to demographic change, which leads to a growing number of older people in society. Statistics show that 75-year-old men can expect an average of another eleven years of life. In comparison, they only had to expect about seven years in the 1970s. This trend is even more pronounced in women: they can expect an additional lifetime at 13 years, while it was only eight years in the seventies.

students in humanities particularly active

A report by the Seniors 'Academic Association in Germany (AVDS) emphasizes that many people of the BabyBoomer generation, which for various reasons-such as child rearing or the takeover of his parents' business-did not start studying at an early age, now catch up with what they failed in their youth. This can also be seen in the fields of study that prefer seniors.

In terms of gender distribution among the senior citizens, it can be seen that men still make up the vast majority. Of the 477 registered seniors in the winter semester 2022/23, 271 men and 206 women were women. In recent years, too, these statistics suggested that men in this age group are clearly outnumbered.

This trend is not only observed in Baden-Württemberg, but also reflects a growing interest of seniors in lifelong learning. The country's universities and educational universities seem to be well prepared for this development, and it remains to be seen how this phenomenon will continue to develop.

A detailed investigation on these topics can be found in the report on www.tagesschau.de .