Reports of unusually high dropout rates on European Campus Rottal-Inn in Pfarrkirchen have sparked public debate and calls for clarification in recent days. Several national and local media outlets cite internal statistics according to which around 80 per cent of first-time enrollees in several bachelor’s cohorts were subsequently recorded as dropouts. The reports cite this figure as a starting point and describe it as the result of internal data analyses. (Reporting as of late October/early November 2026.) ([welt.de](https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/plus6ae4aab4bfb85e617afeb3d9/deggendorf-vier-von-fuenf-brechen-ab-bayerns-vorzeigecampus-und-die-phantom-studenten.html))
The reports quickly prompted reactions in local politics: the Mayor of Pfarrkirchen called for a “fresh start” and maximum transparency from the university management. The discussion has also touched on suspicions described in reports as indications of so-called “sham students”—that is, enrolments that outwardly confer student status but are not accompanied internally by actual participation in studies. Such indications are cited in reporting as questions to be clarified, not as matters already established in court. ([pnp.de](https://www.pnp.de/lokales/landkreis-rottal-inn/scheinstudenten-in-pfarrkirchen-buergermeister-fordert-campus-neustart-22349192?utm_source=openai))
The Deggendorf Institute of Technology (THD), of which the European Campus Rottal-Inn is a faculty, regularly documents enrolment figures and offerings at the site on its website; official university publications confirm the campus’s existence and international focus, but the material cited by the media does not provide a direct breakdown that comprehensively confirms or refutes the dropout rates reported. At the time of reporting, the cited media had not found specific figures for the dropout rates in question, verified by the university, in publicly available press releases. In response to enquiries, local politicians called for a prompt and comprehensible account of the survey methodology and the available data. ([th-deg.de](https://th-deg.de/ecri?utm_source=openai))
The allegations touch on several legal and organisational areas: university administration (data management, enrolment and examination administration), municipal funding agreements and, where applicable, immigration matters involving international students, if enrolments do not correspond to actual participation in study programmes. Observers are now calling for a transparent review of the underlying data, an account of the methodology used for the internal statistics and, where appropriate, external scrutiny. Until such a review takes place, the figures cited in reporting should be treated as media claims; reliable conclusions require primary data that can be disclosed and verified.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).