20th Social Survey (2012) 

The 20th Social Survey is part of a survey series regarding the economic and social situation of students conducted since 1951 by the German National Association for Student Affairs (DSW) as part of their social survey. The Social Survey is a cross-sectional study which is usually carried out every three years. Key components of the study include access to higher education, structural aspects of the course and progress of studies, the economic and social situation (financing of studies, living expenses, employment, housing conditions) as well as topics in the field of activity of the German National Association for Student Affairs and socio-demographic characteristics. Over the course of the structural reform of the Bologna Process, the proportion of students of “new” courses of study in the sample of the 20th Social Survey has further increased compared to the sample of the 19th Social Survey. The implementation of “G8” in several federal states between 2009 and 2012, which reduced the duration until high school graduation from nine to eight school years, as well as the nationwide suspension of compulsory military service in 2011 allowed for matriculation at a lower age.