Democratising education means taking responsibility

Dr Sven Schütt (CEO)

24 March 2026

"At IU, we are driven by a very simple idea: education changes lives. We set out to democratise education – with flexible, practical and personalised study programmes for people who often cannot find a suitable option within the traditional higher education system.

The fact that around 130,000 students today consciously choose IU, even though there are often tuition-free state alternatives in Germany, is therefore, above all, a sign of trust and responsibility for us. These people are investing their own money, time and hope in their future. That is precisely what compels us.

For this reason, we do not look first at claims, but at results. In the latest University Experience Study 2026, conducted by Kantar Profiles, 91 per cent rate courses, lecturers and learning materials at IU positively. On average, IU alumni find a job after 2.63 months – faster than the benchmark. And in the Employability Benchmark 2025, employers rate the performance of our graduates at 3.52 out of 5 – above the benchmark of 3.34. 64 per cent consider IU graduates attractive in recruitment.

But a university is not good simply because the average looks good. It is good when every single student experiences good teaching, encounters reliable processes and is offered genuine development prospects. That is precisely why we realigned our strategy around 18 months ago.

Yes, we have grown very rapidly during a period of very high demand. But not because growth was an end in itself for us, or because we view education as a short-term profit-making venture. Rather, because we were convinced that many students need a better, more flexible programme that is more closely aligned with the labour market. Looking back, it is clear to us: in some areas we underestimated the operational complexity and, in certain situations, regulatory requirements as well. That was a mistake. And we have learnt from this mistake and drawn the necessary conclusions.

Our strategic response is therefore not retreat, but maturity: less complexity, more reliability; less breadth, more focus on quality in each individual case. Since the reorientation, we have invested more than €30 million in teaching quality, services, data, systems and quality control; built up additional teaching and service capacities; introduced clear end-to-end responsibilities; tightened quality and risk checks for new degree programmes; professionalised incident and escalation management; and simplified our portfolio in a targeted manner. This also includes the fact that we have deliberately scaled back profitable elements where they created too much operational complexity.

The impact is tangible: the rate of timely mark allocation in the OnCampus area stood at 98 per cent by the end of 2025, major operational incidents have declined significantly, and we are seeing improvements in service, onboarding and student satisfaction. At the same time, we are continuing to work on faster responses, better timeliness of our content and even greater process stability.

What matters to us is: Entrepreneurial ownership and academic integrity are not a contradiction. A modern university needs academic independence in teaching, assessment and research – and at the same time professional management that systematically ensures quality, innovation and reliability. What matters is not the form of ownership, but governance.

Our new guiding principle is clear: Growth follows quality, not the other way round. We grow where we reliably master teaching, student support, processes and labour market relevance. And we reduce complexity where we cannot yet guarantee the quality that meets our standards.

That is why our standards are higher today than they used to be: not just to be strong on average, but to offer every single student what IU stands for – access to education, personal development and better opportunities in life."