Two years after the start of the Russian war of aggression against their country, students from Ukraine are only occasionally to be found at Thuringian colleges and universities. In the summer semester of 2023, the State Office for Statistics counted 192 Ukrainian nationals there, which accounted for around 0.4 percent of all students. This proportion has remained almost constant since the summer semester 2021. Data for the winter semester 2023/24, which is currently coming to an end, was not initially available.
A look at first-year students revealed a slight upward trend in the immediate period after the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022: While 12 of them were still Ukrainians in the summer semester of 2021, the number rose to 40 in the summer semester of 2022 - making up 4.7 percent of all first-year students. In the summer semester of 2023, however, the number fell again to 21 and the proportion to 2.5 percent.
The figures relate to all universities in Thuringia except for the group of private universities. Erfurt is home to the private IU International University, which claims to be the largest university in Germany with tens of thousands of students. However, the statistics would include many students who study outside Thuringia at one of the university's 35 campuses.
