Editing Numerus clausus (section)

== Modern examples ==

The ''numerus clausus'' is used in countries and universities where the number of applicants greatly exceeds the number of available places for students. This is the case in many countries of [[continental Europe]]. Students in much of Europe choose their field of specialization when they begin university study, unlike students in North America, who specialize later. Fields such as medicine, law, biology, dentistry, pharmacy, psychology and business administration are particularly popular and therefore harder to gain admittance to study.

=== Brazil ===
{{Main|Vestibular exam#Racial quotas}}

In November 2002 the Brazilian government passed Federal Law 10.558/2002, known as the "Quota Law". The law allowed for the establishment of racial quotas at public universities. In 2012 the [[Supreme Federal Court]] of Brazil unanimously upheld the law.<ref>Brazil's Supreme Court upholds affirmative action in universities, KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Special to the AmNews | 5/16/2012, 6:04 p.m., Amsterdam News, http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2012/may/16/brazils-supreme-court-upholds-affirmative-action/</ref>

=== Germany ===
{{Further|Education in Germany#Admission}}

The ''numerus clausus'' is used in Germany to address overcrowding at universities. There are local admission restrictions, which are set up for a particular degree program (''{{Lang|de|Studiengang}}'') at the university's discretion, and nationwide admission restrictions in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, and pharmacy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hochschulkompass.de/en/degree-programmes/application-admission/admissions-procedure/local-admission-restrictions.html|title=Local admission restrictions|website=hochschulkompass.de|publisher=German Rectors' Conference|access-date=2016-12-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hochschulkompass.de/en/degree-programmes/application-admission/admissions-procedure/national-admission-restrictions.html|title=National admission restrictions|website=hochschulkompass.de|publisher=German Rectors' Conference|access-date=2016-12-18}}</ref> Not all degree programs restrict admissions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hochschulkompass.de/en/degree-programmes/application-admission/admissions-procedure/no-admission-restrictions.html|title=No admission restrictions|website=hochschulkompass.de|publisher=German Rectors' Conference|access-date=2016-12-19}}</ref> The most common admission criterion is the final grade of the university entrance qualification, that is the high school completion certificate formally allowing the applicant to study at a German university. Typically, this is the ''[[Abitur]]''. The final grade takes into account the grades of the final exams as well as the course grades. In colloquial usage, ''numerus clausus'' may also refer to the lowest admitted grade in this process. Other criteria, e.g. interviews, are increasingly common as well.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wiwo.de/karriere/studenten-in-der-testmuehle-390632/|title=Auswahlverfahren der Universitäten: Studenten in der Testmühle|date=13 March 2009|publisher=Wirtschaftswoche|language=de|access-date=2016-12-19}}</ref>

=== Finland ===

The Finnish system of implementing the ''numerus clausus'' provides a comparison to the German model. In Germany, the main weight of the student selection lies on the ''Abitur'' grades (i.e. high school diploma). In Finland, which has a similar nationwide final exam, the [[Abitur#Finland|matriculation examination]] (Finnish ''ylioppilastutkinto''), the majority of student selections are based on entrance exams. Most degree programs consist of a single major subject and have their own entrance procedures. Nearly all programs have a quota in which the score is calculated solely on the basis of the entrance exam. The written exams usually consist of open-ended questions requiring the applicant to write an essay or solve problems. Multiple choice tests are uncommon.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.abo.fi/ansok/en/results|title=Numerus Clausus. A system of Numerus Clausus (restricted entry) is in use at all institutions of higher education in Finland.}}{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In fields where the competition for study places is less fierce. This is especially the case with the [[engineering]] and [[natural science]] programs. It is relatively easy to be accepted in these fields—about one-third of the study places in technology are awarded on the basis of the matriculation exam. The rest of the students are admitted on the basis of an entrance exam. After receiving a study place, the student must accept it in writing on the pain of forfeiting the place. In case the students receive more than one study place, they must select one. During the year, one person may accept only a single study place in an institution of higher education. The system is enforced through a national database on student admissions.

In the Finnish system, the ''numerus clausus'' is the most important factor limiting student numbers. After gaining entrance, traditionally a student cannot be expelled, pays no [[Tuition payments|tuition]], and enjoys a state [[student benefit]]. The new legislation, introduced in the summer of 2005, limits the study period to seven years, but it is anticipated that it will be relatively easy to receive permission for a longer study time. No changes to the financial position of the student are currently being considered (as of the summer of 2005).

=== France ===

In France, admission to the ''[[grande école|grandes écoles]]'' is obtained by competitive exams with a fixed, limited number of positions each year. Also, at the end of the first year of medical studies in universities, until 2020,<ref>[https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000038821260 Loi numéro 2019-774 du 24 juillet 2019 relative à l'organisation et à la transformation du système de santé]</ref> there was a competitive exam with a ''numerus clausus'' for determining which students are allowed to proceed to the second year; in later years of medical studies there is a competitive exam (''concours de l'internat'') for choosing medical specialties.<ref>M. Huguier, P. Romestaing (October 2014),  [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303576208_Numerus_clausus_and_medical_demographics_in_France  Numerus clausus and medical demographics in France.]</ref>

=== Ireland ===

''Numerus clausus'' is also used in Ireland. [[University College Dublin]] uses the system in its admission for Medicine and Veterinary Medicine.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://myucd.ucd.ie/admissions/alevel.ezc|title=A Level/GCE Applicant|author=EDge Interactive Publishing, Inc.|access-date=17 March 2016|archive-date=23 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323221133/https://myucd.ucd.ie/admissions/alevel.ezc|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Switzerland ===

The introduction of the ''numerus clausus'' in Switzerland has limited access to medical studies at the universities. At all universities of the German-speaking part of Switzerland, the students need to have a high score on an aptitude test that comprises logical and spatial thinking and text understanding skills.<ref>[http://www.lyceum-alpinum.ch/en/academic/college-counselling/switzerland-germany/ Eignungstest für das Medizinstudium (Switzerland).] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422093735/http://www.lyceum-alpinum.ch/en/academic/college-counselling/switzerland-germany/ |date=2018-04-22 }} Numerus Clausus for Medical Studies in Switzerland and Germany.</ref>

The universities in the western, French-speaking part of Switzerland did not decide to introduce a ''numerus clausus''. Instead, these universities provide unrestricted access to the first-year curriculum in medicine; and the best first-year students are allowed to further their medical studies at the same or at another university. In other popular faculties like psychology or journalism, there are also aptitude tests—but they concern only a single university.

=== United States ===

Starting in the 1980s, and ongoing {{as of|2012|lc=y}}, there have been allegations of an [[Asian quota]] in college admissions, analogous to the earlier [[Jewish quota]].<ref name=lemann>{{cite journal |title=Jews in Second Place |date=June 25, 1996 |first=Nicholas |last=Lemann |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/briefing/articles/1996/06/jews_in_second_place.html |journal=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |quote=Just at the moment when Harvard, Yale, and Princeton have presidents named Rudenstine, Levin, and Shapiro, those institutions are widely suspected of having informal ceilings on Asian admissions, of the kind that were imposed on Jews two generations ago. |access-date=2017-08-03}}</ref><ref name=unz2012>{{cite journal |url=http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-myth-of-american-meritocracy/ |title=The Myth of American Meritocracy |journal=[[The American Conservative]] |first=Ron |last=Unz |author-link=Ron Unz |date=November 28, 2012 |access-date=2017-08-03}}</ref>