Stay rates for international first-year students in cohorts 2006–2012, five and ten years after starting their studies

Many international students want to stay in Germany after completing their degree. Actual retention rates can only be established for first-year students from non-EU countries as they – unlike those from EU countries – require a residence permit in order to study in Germany and are thus recorded in the Central Register of Foreigners (AZR).
Based on this, a recent calculation by the Federal Statistical Office found that, of the students registered in the AZR who embarked on a degree in Germany between 2006 and 2012, 55% were still in Germany five years after starting their studies and 46% ten years after starting their studies. Almost a third (30%) of those who were still in Germany ten years after embarking on their degree had since been granted a permanent settlement permit, while just under a quarter (24%) had acquired German citizenship. Another third (33%) held a temporary residence permit for the purpose of gainful employment (13%), for study-related (11%) or for family reasons (9%). Moreover, the analysis of the Federal Statistical Office highlights a clear trend in the retention rates of international first-year students in the period under review: to begin with, the retention rate was relatively stable ten years after commencing their studies, between 43% and 45% (first-year cohorts of 2006 to 2010), before rising to 48% (first-year cohort of 2011) and ultimately to 51% (first-year cohort of 2012).