Start of the first semester at the University of Cologne: three days until the big welcome!

Start of the first semester at the University of Cologne: three days until the big welcome!

The winter semester 2025/2026 begins at the University of Cologne on October 13, 2025 with a celebratory welcome event for the new students. The rector of the university, Professor Dr. Joybrato Mukherjee, as well as Vice-Rector Professor Dr. Beatrix Busse welcomes around 5,250 first-year students. This represents a significant increase compared to previous years. The event starts at 9:00 a.m. in the university auditorium and will be broadcast both in person and via live stream, which enables broader participation. Representatives of the media are warmly invited to take part in this event. uni-koeln.de reported.

The university has a total of around 43,250 students in the 2025/2026 winter semester. What is particularly noteworthy is that around 27,250 of these specific students, which corresponds to around 63%, are women. The internationality of the student body is also impressive: around 4,750 students come from 127 different nations, which makes up around 11% of the total.

Popular courses of study and extracurricular offerings

Among the courses, the Bachelor of Business Administration is one of the most popular with 278 first semester students, followed by Bachelor of Biology, which has 257 new students. In addition to the specified courses of study, new students are provided with a comprehensive range of information and advice. Guided tours and information events offer you the opportunity to get to know campus life.

Internationally oriented offerings are also present as part of the events. Rector Mukherjee encourages students to establish contacts with international universities and institutions. The university operates five foreign offices in Egypt, China, Ghana, India and the USA, which encourage international networking.

Support offers for new students

The range of information events was also expanded to include digital formats. For example, the first semester portal offers advice and assistance to make the start easier for new students. The Central Student Advisory Service has initiated online events to promote networking among students.

In addition to the welcome event, there will be an information fair at Albertus-Magnus-Platz in which various university and student institutions will be presented, including university sports, the studio stage and the university radio. In addition, the Gateway start-up center in the “InnoDom” supports start-up ideas and promotes entrepreneurial thinking.

In conclusion, the University of Cologne offers new students a variety of opportunities to grow both academically and personally. With a clear focus on interdisciplinarity and internationality, the institution is ideally positioned to meet the challenges of the modern educational landscape. uni-heute.de points out the importance of these programs for a successful study period.

In addition, the latest statistics on dropouts are relevant for higher education policy in Germany. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) regularly collects data on the social and economic situation of students in order to improve study conditions destatis.de. The current university statistics show important key figures on student success and possible challenges that affect aspiring academics.