AfD’s University Reform Proposals Threaten Academic Freedom in Saxony-Anhalt

Alternative for Germany (AfD) has placed university reforms at the centre of its Saxony-Anhalt election programme. The manifesto proposes a state institute for “critical Islamic studies,” a chair in population studies on the “dying out of our people,” abolition of gender studies, “critical climate research,” and a return to German Diplom/Magister degrees, rejecting bachelor-master degrees. The party frames the changes as a remedy to a “deep crisis” in German science.

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AfD spokesperson Christoph Birghan; HRK president Walter Rosenthal (272-university Rectors’ Conference); Leopoldina president Bettina Rockenbach (National Academy of Sciences); German Research Foundation (DFG); Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg.

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Polls show AfD support above 40 % in Saxony-Anhalt, making it the likely largest party in September elections in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and it leads national polls.

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HRK president Walter Rosenthal warned the AfD programme threatens institutional autonomy and academic openness. Leopoldina president Bettina Rockenbach said the proposals would restrict or prohibit research in certain fields, a serious encroachment on academic freedom and a broader threat to open, international, independent research. Both note German constitution protects academic freedom but anticipate funding cuts, delayed appointments, and blocked committee decisions under an AfD-led state government.

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Academic bodies argue the reforms would undermine current German higher-education structure, restrict research fields, and undermine openness and international nature of research. Reinstating Diplom and Magister degrees, which lack international recognition, is seen as a backward step. Abolishing gender studies and imposing “critical” lenses on climate and Islamic research could politicise curricula. Sources do not specify how funding cuts would be implemented, timeline for degree changes, or criteria for “ideologically driven” research, leaving details unclear.

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The September state elections will decide whether the AfD can form a government in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, after which it could move its university reforms into law.

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• “I am confident that an honest debate about past mistakes and a strong AfD — whether at the state or federal level — will ensure that academic freedom, and consequently academic excellence, stand to benefit.” — Christoph Birghan, AfD spokesperson on higher-education policy

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• “We are really concerned about this programme and the effects it may have on institutional autonomy and the openness of academic discourse.” — Walter Rosenthal, president of the HRK

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• “The AfD’s election programme explicitly proposes restrictions on, or even the prohibition of, research in certain fields.” — Bettina Rockenbach, president of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina

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• “Such proposals represent not only a serious encroachment on academic freedom, but also a broader threat to the principles of open, international and independent research.” — Bettina Rockenbach, president of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina

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