Brandenburg leads Germany in student dormitory provision

The share of students who still live in their parents' home stands at around 21 percent in Brandenburg, according to the CHE. Nationwide, the figure is around 28 percent. This means a notably lower share of young adults in Brandenburg still lives with their parents than the national average.

Few shared apartments, few parents' homes

Brandenburg holds the lowest share nationwide of students living in a shared apartment outside of a dormitory. Only about 15 percent live in this form of housing. In Thuringia, every third student lives in a shared apartment outside a dormitory, meaning the share there is more than twice as high as in Brandenburg.

Brandenburg's students sometimes have to face up to a fiercely contested housing market. The high share in dormitories and private rental apartments points to the fact that many students find accommodation elsewhere because classic shared apartments are comparatively rare and affordable housing remains scarce.

Background of the survey

The background to the data is a nationwide survey conducted by the CHE. The nationwide surveys were carried out by the CHE in the winter semesters of 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26. In total, just over 87,000 students took part in the three surveys.

The evaluation places Brandenburg in a series of different housing types. While the state is at the top for the dormitory rate, the share of students living with their parents is below the national average, and the share in rental apartments is above it. For shared apartments outside of dormitories, Brandenburg also forms the lowest figure in the nationwide comparison.

Interpretation of the figures

The results were distributed via the dpa news channel (© dpa-infocom, dpa:260716-930-392767/1). The evaluation is based on self-reported information from the surveyed students and provides only a rough overview of the actual housing conditions at the higher-education locations in the state.

Overall, the figures paint a mixed picture of the housing situation of Brandenburg's students: good provision of dormitory places, an above-average share in private rental apartments, a low share living in their parents' home, and the lowest shared-apartment share nationwide. For higher-education planning in the state, the CHE survey thus provides concrete indications of where the housing offering is already well developed and where gaps remain.