Tijen Ataoğlu visits FernUni Hagen: Education for everyone!

Tijen Ataoğlu visits FernUni Hagen: Education for everyone!

On August 15, 2025, member of the Bundestag Tijen Ataoğlu visited the FernUniversität in Hagen. In a stimulating exchange with Rector Prof. Dr. Stefan Stuermer and Prorector Prof. Dr. Osman Isfen, important topics relating to the development of the university were discussed. A focus of the conversation was the interaction between law, politics and society and access to education for people in different life situations. Ataoğlu, who was born in Wipperfürth, emphasized the importance of education and in particular the accessibility of the FernUniversität for everyone, regardless of their life situation.

Tijen Ataoğlu was born on July 21, 1989 and completed her schooling at the St. Nikolaus Catholic Elementary School and the Municipal Engelbert von Berg High School in Wipperfürth. After graduating from high school in 2009, she decided to study law at the universities of Cologne and Istanbul, which she completed with the first examination in 2015. She completed her subsequent master's degree in German-Turkish business law at the University of Cologne and Istanbul Bilgi in 2016 with an LL.M. away.

Career and commitment

After her studies, Ataoğlu completed the legal preparatory service at the Cologne Higher Regional Court. Stations during this time included the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament and the German embassy in Washington D.C. In 2019 she began her duties as a judge in the Hagen regional court district. In March 2025 she was elected to the German Bundestag, where she will continue to pursue her political ambitions.

From December 2021 to March 2025 she was also on leave to work for the CDU state parliamentary group in North Rhine-Westphalia. There she ran the office of the parliamentary group leader and was active as a coordinator for parliamentary committees of inquiry. These diverse experiences underpin their commitment to improving educational opportunities in Germany and their commitment to creating an inclusive education system.

The context of the education system

Tijen Ataoğlu's visit falls into a historical context in which the German university system is constantly changing. The development of German universities, which dates back to the medieval higher education system, has changed from elite education to a more widely accessible range of courses. After the Second World War, the higher education system was reformed with the aim of providing more autonomy and flexibility.

There are currently around 350 higher education institutions in Germany, including 97 universities. The 1999 Bologna Declaration aimed to create a European higher education area and led to the introduction of bachelor's and master's degrees. These reforms aim to further increase the quality of higher education and improve the flexibility of universities in relation to regional and international requirements. The education system is therefore the key to a fair society, which Ataoğlu emphasized so emphatically during her visit to the FernUniversität.

Overall, Tijen Ataoğlu's visit shows the important interfaces between education, law and politics as well as the commitment of young politicians to a fairer and more inclusive educational landscape in Germany.