North Rhine-Westphalia university students see increased study durations

In North Rhine-Westphalia, Bachelor's degree students required an average of more than nine semesters to graduate in 2025. According to data released by IT. NRW, the average duration for a Bachelor's degree was 9.2 semesters, an increase of 0.7 semesters compared to 2020.

Master's degree students required an average of 6.1 semesters, which is 0.3 semesters longer than in 2020. Despite these increases in actual study time, the standard periods of study (Regelstudienzeiten) remained unchanged at 6.5 semesters for Bachelor's programs and 4.0 semesters for Master's programs.

Gender differences persist in graduation timelines. Female students completed their Bachelor's degrees in an average of 8.9 semesters, while male students took 9.7 semesters. For Master's degrees, women averaged 6.0 semesters compared to 6.3 for men.

A total of approximately 116,000 students earned university degrees in 2025, representing a 4.5% increase (about 5,000 people) over the previous year. This rise is partly attributed to the introduction of a new integrated Bachelor of Laws program.