About SG

The StudierendenGesellschaft Witten/Herdecke is a non-profit organization, that was founded in 1995 by students of Witten/Herdecke University (UW/H). The students in Witten organize their financial contribution to the UW/H fees themselves and independently. The ISA, the Income Share Agreement between student generations (or „umgekehrter Generationenvertrag“, abbreviated „UGV“ in German), as a payment concept for their financial contribution promotes equal opportunities in education and freedom at Witten/Herdecke University. The three payment modes enable students to finance their studies independently from their parents’ income or social background.
Since 1995 the SG guarantees free access to higher education, an independent study organization and a free choice of a professional career for all students. Why? Because studying in Witten is not bound to money!

Besides organizing the students’ financial contribution – which is currently about € 11.0M yearly – and the support of student-based activities, the SG is co-owner of Witten/Herdecke University. Throughout this position, the students can voice their interest and needs insistently.

Our values: the three freedoms

When the introduction of tuition fees at Witten/Herdecke University was imminent in 1995, the concerns were great: How can we prevent that from now on it is mainly money, but not individual abilities, that decides who studies in Witten? How can we prevent the economisation of studies? How can we prevent studies and career choices from becoming increasingly subordinate to financial constraints?

These questions not only found a convincing answer in the Income Share Agreement, but also contained what we still see as the ideals of the student society many years later: The Three Freedoms.

Free Access to Hiquer-Education

The RGC enables you to study at the UW/H regardless of your financial background. It depends solely on you and your abilities, not on the thickness of your parents’ wallets.

Free Independent Study Organization

Students are entitled to exercise their personal independence and responsibility in designing their own course of study, without limitation due to having to make a financing contribution. Economization of one’s education – a principle by which financial necessity restricts the time a person is allowed to study – is not adequate to this entitlement. Paying a fixed amount while one is still in school is an expression of this principle.

Free Choice of a Professional Career

All graduates should be entitled to choose what profession they take up freely. Such a choice must not be limited by a set mountain of debt. This principle is reflected in payment later according to one’s income; i.e. once you have completed your education, you contribute what you can, based on your financial capacity.

Statues & Association bodies

The general assembly has lastly amended the current statutes of StudierendenGesellschaft Witten/Herdecke e.V. on March 4th, 2016. They can be downloaded (German only) here.

As the highest-ranking body of the StudierendenGesellschaft, the general assembly comprises regular members (students currently enrolled at Witten/Herdecke University) and supporting members (alumni and externals). It decides on appointment, dismissal and discharge of the supervisory board; amendments to the articles of association; model contracts governing tuition payment for studies at Witten/Herdecke University.

The executive board is appointed by the supervisory board and currently consists of four students plus two further students in the capacity of a project manager. It is in charge of day-to-day business, accounting and the preparation of annual financial statements and the budget for each fiscal year.

The supervisory board comprises eleven members, six of them UW/H students. Among its duties are the supervision of and advice to the executive board as well as its appointment, dismissal and discharge. Furthermore, the supervisory board approves the annual financial statement and budget.

The social committee aims to avoid undue hardship related to the implementation of tuition payment contracts at Private Universität Witten/Herdecke.

The conciliation office regulates all legal disputes that may arise from contracts on tuition payments as a first recourse. Only if a final decision of the conciliation office is not accepted are the parties involved free to take legal measures.

Two executive board members represent the StudierendenGesellschaft among the UW/H Associates. The associates are the owner of UW/H and decide on the highest level about the long-term development of the University.

Supervisory Board

The supervisory board is the advisory and supervising committee of the StudierendenGesellschaft. It consists of supporting members (external persons associated with Witten/Herdecke University) and orderly members (students from different departments and semesters). Among the supervisory board’s tasks are the supervision of activities performed by the board of managers and the providing of support on special questions.

University of Witten/Herdecke

The UW/H was founded in 1982 as Germany’s first non-state university. With its three faculties – Health, Economics and Cultural Reflection – it is a pioneer in the German educational landscape. The university has set itself the goal of testing new forms of teaching and learning, developing new fields of study and approaches in research, as well as breaking new ground in the organisation of an academic university. Its aim is to create a framework that enables students to shape their studies freely and on their own responsibility. The development of the personality is an equally important goal alongside the acquisition of academic qualifications.

The number of study places has risen continuously in recent years. Currently, Witten/Herdecke University has around 2,500 students in 19 degree programmes.

The UW/H was founded in the early 1980s as Germany’s first private university. In addition to the medical school, it also offers the possibility to study dentistry and nursing, as well as philosophy, business and cultural reflection.
The goal the UW/H has set for itself is to test new forms of teaching and learning, to develop new directions of study and new approaches to research, and to take new paths toward the organisation of a scientific academy. It aspires to the creation of a context that will enable students in freedom and self-responsibility to design and organise their course of study. In this process, the goal of personal development has equal priority with that of acquiring special qualifications. The course of study emphasises practical relevance, methodological thinking, and interdisciplinarity, for the sake of developing the ability of autonomous problem-solving. “Transformation, not training” might be a suitable summary of these goals. For more on the UW/H, click here.

SG und UW/H

The relationship between Witten/Herdecke University (UW/H) and the StudierendenGesellschaft functions on a partnership basis. Each student makes his or her financial contribution through the StudierendenGesellschaft. The tuition fees handled by the StudierendenGesellschaft are based on a unique contribution idea, one that incorporates an understanding of students as entrepreneurs. Changes in the amount students contribute to UW/H must always be made in agreement between the UW/H and the StudierendenGesellschaft. The fact that students control the processing of tuition fees is an example par excellence for the implementation of the basic principles of the UW/H:

encouragement of freedom

striving for truth

promoting responsibility

and of its fundamentally entrepreneurial understanding of the notion of higher education.

“The funding shares students contribute to the University’s budget serve its long-term safeguarding and preservation. The range of this contribution to the success of the idea which is the „Private Universität Witten/Herdecke gGmbH“ is determined according to the students’ financial capabilities and their appreciation of the University, but not according to the compass of the services from which the students profit. It is in this spirit that the members of the StudierendenGesellschaft unite to become a shared risk community mutually supporting one another in the realization of the three kinds of freedom.”

(excerpt from the contribution regulation for the summer term 2015, effective 3 March, 2015).

Moreover, since 2001, the StudierendenGesellschaft has been a shareholder of the UW/H. With a current share of about 7,6 % of the University’s business, it is represented in the shareholders’ assembly by two members of the board of directors and advocates especially the maintenance of liberal conditions of study.

Refinancing

More students – more education – more funding needs

The number of students at Witten/Herdecke University has doubled in the past five years. Currently, the university, which is privately run, has around 2,400 students. By 2020, the number is expected to rise to up to 3,000 due to the growing demand for study places.

To finance the tuition fees in a socially acceptable way in Witten, about half of the enrolled students currently use the Income Share Agreement (ISA) and are thus part of a cross-generational solidarity community. The ISA enables all students to finance their studies in a socially acceptable way – regardless of their socio-economic background. The expected increase in the number of first-year students means that more students will make use of our financing model in the future.

For the StudierendenGesellschaft, as the central administrator of all tuition fees and developer of the ISA, this means that it will have to disburse higher financial contributions to the University in the coming years. To be more precise: it will need more funding to bridge the period between the disbursement and the start of the repayments.

First step: A bond with non-material and financial returns

The successful start to the refinancing of the StudierendenGesellschaft and thus the long-term safeguarding of the Income Share Agreement was demonstrated by the placement of the first student bond in November 2014. Click here for details of the student bond.

next step: A loan agreement with GLS Bank

Three years later, in January 2018, a loan agreement for 9.65 million euros was signed with GLS Bank. A favourable interest rate environment and the willingness of all banks approached to take the second refinancing step with the StudierendenGesellschaft led to the decision for a loan. Here is the press release on the loan agreement

Our Partners