[Translate to EN English:] Foto: Alanus Hochschule (Archiv)

At the end of September, the autumn semester began for around 400 new students in Alfter near Bonn. A total of around 2,000 students are now enrolled in more than 20 degree programmes at Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences, which teaches future teachers, art therapists, architects and business administrators.

The number of students has thus increased more than tenfold in the past 20 years, during which time the Software AG Foundation (SAGST) has supported the university as a funding partner. Underlining the dynamic development in Alfter, SAGST project manager Christoph Teixeira stated, “During this time, we have succeeded in ensuring that 11 of the 21 bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes now operate completely independently of our financial support.”
... are particularly in demand this semester. Students in these subjects and more appreciate the opportunities the university offers in terms of personal development, such as through its extracurricular studies programme. According to Alanus’s rector, Prof. Dr. Hans-Joachim Pieper, in his virtual video message to those starting their first semester, “so much the better, the more we can meet and communicate directly with each other.”

That is why, after a long period of online classes due to COVID-19, as many events as possible will once again take place in person during the autumn/winter 2020/21 semester – naturally in accordance with the applicable coronavirus rules. Even though the university has had positive experiences with distance learning over the past 18 months, students and teachers are looking forward to studying in person in more than just Alfter.
At the Institute for Waldorf Education, Inclusion and Intercultural Studies, a good 100 students will also begin their studies on the Mannheim campus in the new semester. The Alanus University Study Centre qualifies students for educational and curative tasks in anthroposophic-oriented institutions and also receives support from SAGST.

By providing funding in Mannheim and Alfter, the Foundation not only aims to secure the next generation of teachers in this field but especially to establish alternative educational concepts in science and society. Furthermore, it is committed to further developing art therapies as a means of healing in anthroposophic medicine in order to make them accessible to a wider audience.