The week before last, the government annouced a nationwide semester ticket (D-ticket for 60% of the standard price, that would be €29.40). Each university or university location can introduce this student ticket individually in a solidarity-based model.

Since the announcement of this new option, the AStA and StuPa have been working intensively and weighing up the pros and cons of introducing it at our location. We would like to compare the most important arguments of this consideration here:

Central arguments for the nationwide semester ticket as a semester ticket:

• For people without a car, especially international students (almost 30% of our students) and students living in Saarland, the burden of additionally purchasing train/bus tickets is significantly reduced - they are often actually dependent on the semester ticket
• Maintaining a car is very cost-intensive, the nationwide semester ticket also enables students with limited financial means - theoretically Germany-wide - affordable mobility

Key arguments against it:

• Due to the mediocre transport connections and poor frequency of the UCB, the public transport offer is unsuitable for many people, who prefer to use their car and therefore pay extra
• For many, the current area of validity is already sufficient and they do not necessarily travel outside this area for more than €13.67/month

We found it anything but easy to weigh up the benefits and the additional burden between the various user groups. In order to get a more comprehensive picture of the opions within the student body, we also sent out and advertised a corresponding survey, in which almost 25% of you all voted. A narrow majority voted in favor of adopting the nationwide semester ticket. We would like to thank you for your participation and questions about the survey. You can find the detailed results at the end of our statement.

The topic was discussed in detail in several meetings, each lasting several hours, both in the AStA and in the StuPa, and the arguments for and against were repeatedly weighed against each other.

In the end, we also made the decision - albeit a narrow one in some cases - to adopt the nationwide semester ticket for the summer semester. Even though we fully understand the opposing side and regret that individual students now have to make a higher contribution to the solidarity community without benefiting from it, the advantages outweighed the disadvantages for us. In addition, we find the idea of the nationwide semester ticket - especially at the very affordable student price - worthy of support in principle. You can also find the results of the votes at the end of our statement.

Should someone actually experience financial bottlenecks that endanger their existence and/or studies due to the €82.03 higher semester fee, we will certainly find a solution for these individual cases and provide the best possible support.

We hope that we have been able to make our decision comprehensible and look forward to all of us being able to travel by public transport nationwide from the coming semester.