"Studying in Mainz" - results of a survey from 2011

What can the city of Mainz offer to encourage young people to study here? For many, it is not only the attractiveness of the state capital that is decisive (10 percent cited this as the decisive reason), but also social, financial, and academic reasons in particular.

The survey revealed that for 26 percent of students, proximity to their home was the most important reason for choosing Mainz, followed by tuition-free study in Rhineland-Palatinate (16 percent) and personal reasons such as social relationships with relatives and friends. For 15 percent, the desired field of study was only offered in Mainz, and 11 percent only received a place at university in Mainz.

The majority of those who received a place at university in Mainz also move directly to the city. Only 31 percent of all students live outside Mainz, with the proportion of non-residents at the university being the lowest at 29 percent. At the University of Applied Sciences, 40 percent of students commute from their place of residence to the state capital, and at the Catholic University of Applied Sciences, the figure is as high as 50 percent. Many commuters come from Hesse and live in Wiesbaden (6 percent of students in Mainz) or Frankfurt (around 2 percent of students in Mainz).

Mainz's Neustadt district is by far the most popular among students. While one in four students lives here, the other districts lag far behind with a maximum of 5 percent of students. Students are most likely to be drawn to Hartenberg-Münchfeld (15 percent), which is in close proximity to the campus, as well as the Old Town and Upper Town (14 percent each). Shared apartments have become

firmly established as a social form of housing. Almost half of the students live in a shared apartment, while only one in three lives alone. Even though Mainz is considered a tough place to find accommodation and 35 percent of those surveyed even rate the housing supply as inadequate, on average it takes three weeks and four viewings to find an apartment that 52 percent are satisfied with and 28 percent are even very satisfied with.

Students are usually short on cash. That's why they have to budget their expenses carefully. Most of their monthly income goes toward housing and food (132 percent per person), while they spend significantly less on clothing and other goods, at 51 euros each. With average rent expenses of 332 euros, landlords are the ones who benefit most financially from students. However, retailers also gain almost 5 percent of their annual turnover from 2010 from students.

Cafés, pubs, bars, restaurants, and nightclubs are always well frequented in a student city like Mainz. Accordingly, student money is also spent here. In this way, students bring Mainz's restaurant industry a turnover of more than €50 per person. However, students are more economical when it comes to spending on entertainment, culture, and sports activities. Going to the movies is the most popular activity (42 percent), while museums and exhibitions are visited less frequently (8 percent).

Students' spending on leisure and cultural activities also reflects their assessment of Mainz's infrastructure. While cinemas and theaters are rated as good (2.10) on a scale of one (very good) to five (very poor), half of the students are unaware of Mainz's cabaret and comedy offerings. Gastronomic offerings are also rated as good (2.20), while discotheques receive only average marks of 2.89. When it comes to sporting activities, on which an average of 10 euros per month is spent, university sports are rated higher than other sporting activities, receiving top marks (1.97).

The state capital definitely scores points for its local transport connections to the city center. Students give these a solid good rating. However, public transport connections (2.78) and the inner-city cycle path network (2.90) are rated less favorably. Students rate the parking situation in the city center very poorly (4.10).

One consolation: students rate the shopping facilities in the city center more positively than the average passerby in another survey, giving them a score of 2.31.

Mainz, the crazy city of Gutenberg – Wiesbaden, the rich spa town? Young people studying here associate the city of Mainz with very specific characteristics that make it stand out for them. The image of the state capital can be particularly well illustrated in comparison to neighboring Wiesbaden.

Mainz clearly scores higher than Wiesbaden in terms of friendliness (84 percent of students living in Mainz agreed with this), hospitality (66 percent), educational friendliness (65 percent), and cosmopolitanism (60 percent), which were rated lower by students living there. Wiesbaden, on the other hand, is perceived by students as having more flair and being less small-town than Mainz, and above all offers more green spaces in the city.

Mainz is not only rated as particularly pleasant, it is also worth it for students to spend their weekends and lecture-free time here. 43 percent of local students also stayed in Mainz on the weekends. During the lecture period, 72 percent of students living here rated their university location as the center of their lives, and during the lecture-free period, this figure was still 42 percent.

Only 12 percent of those surveyed consider Mainz to be merely a place of study; all the others have a stronger connection to the city, and one in eleven students would even like to live in Mainz permanently.

"The banks of the Rhine in summer are the ultimate dream!" says one student when asked what she particularly likes about Mainz. Many other respondents feel the same way, finding the banks of the Rhine and the city's riverside location the most beautiful aspects of Mainz.

Most students also find Mainz's old town with its narrow streets, cathedral, and weekly market extremely charming. In addition to the Rhine and the old town, the three things that the majority of students like about Mainz include the city center, which is characterized as attractive, well-maintained, and cozy.

Small-town flair with all the advantages of a big city – this is exactly what students appreciate about Mainz, which, with its ideal size, offers pleasantly short distances to all important facilities. The city's leisure and cultural offerings and its open-minded and friendly population are also well received by students. As a university location, Mainz is also attractive because it bundles all departments in one campus university.

Despite all the praise, the students also have some criticisms and suggestions for improvement. First and foremost is the poor housing market situation, followed by the poor traffic situation with excessive parking fees and inadequate public transport, especially at night. This is where the students' suggestions for making Mainz even more attractive come in. In addition to lowering rents and improving transportation through cheaper parking and the expansion of bike paths, students would also like to see better organization and equipment at the universities. On a positive note, however, the respondents gave 21 percent fewer answers about the things they don't like about Mainz than they did when asked what they particularly like about the city.