Von der libertas academica zur Freiheit der Märkte

In the past sixty years, German universities have twice undergone radical changes. Each time, these changes came from the outside. The first upheaval was about democratization. The university was subjected to unprecedented control; the second change subjected it to markets, because the state was no longer willing to adjust budgets to the growing number of students. Third-party funding, once virtually unknown, is now the most important instrument of control, and in many respects the universities resemble business enterprises, with their management controlling the professors. Thus, the seat of "academic freedom" has moved from the students to the professors to the governing bodies. All that has remained is the traditional discourse that invokes Humboldt, the educational mission and the unity of teaching and research.