From winter semester 2024/25: The change to the nationwide Deutschland semester ticket is coming!

The student representatives of the universities in Kiel, Flensburg and Lübeck have decided to switch to the nationwide Deutschland-Semesterticket from the coming winter semester 2024/25. The decision for the CAU student body was made by the student parliament at its meeting on Friday, February 23. It unanimously voted in favor of the switch for the winter semester 24/25. Furthermore, the parliament agreed to organize an extensive information campaign to inform the student body about the new conditions.

In November 2023, the federal and state governments agreed to offer students a discounted version of the Deutschlandticket. The change from the state-wide to the nationwide semester ticket will be accompanied by an increase in the semester ticket price. As a result, the price will rise from €171.10 for the state-wide ticket to €176.40 for a nationwide ticket for the 2024/25 winter semester. The student bodies primarily see the advantages for students that arise from the Deutschlandticket: The ticket guarantees the use of public transport throughout Germany as well as weekend use of the ferries in Kiel and Lübeck. Public transport on Sylt is also included.

The ticket is issued in the same way as the regular Deutschlandticket and is therefore primarily provided as a digital ticket. Alternatively, it is possible to issue a chip card, but this is not recommended due to the manual effort involved for students and public transport companies.

"At best, the offer of a Deutschlandticket for students must also be geared towards the reality of students' lives"

says Stella Thomsen, AStA board member. The cost of the Deutschland-Semesterticket is linked to the price of the regular Deutschlandticket and amounts to 60% of the latter. The student representatives are critical of this fixed price and point out that a potential future price increase should be evaluated and responded to accordingly.

"There is also agreement among the student bodies and transport companies that a return to the state-wide semester ticket should be possible at the unanimous request of the student bodies in Schleswig-Holstein"

explains Jonathan Borchers from the AStA Intrastructure Department.

The future of the Deutschland-Semesterticket is to be decided by the student body in a survey in the summer semester of 2024.