Four million people are unemployed in Germany and this is having an impact on the country's universities. Many youngsters who hold university qualifying certificates claim their legal right to attend not because they want a higher education but because they cannot find employment. This booklet tries, by going beyond the facade of "university," to explain why studies drag on so long in Germany. Using case studies and anecdotes to illustrate actual student life in institutions of higher education, the study notes the following: (1) A large number of registered students do not attend lectures, a situation abetted by very low tuition fees; (2) delayed entry due to compulsory military service and the practice of taking internships or apprenticeships to enhance later employment prospects before enrolling in university; (3) "jobbing," or part-time employment, another way in which two-thirds of German college students obtain practical job experience and money; (4) a common attitude that student life should be a period of fulfillment rather than a period of self-denial; (5) almost half of the foreign students (6.8 percent of all students) have no German citizenship but have lived in Germany for extended periods; (6) and the practice by 10 percent of German students of attending a foreign institution for at least one sabbatical year. (DB)