With this annual report, the 39th since the foundation of the Studentenwerk Oberfranken, we would like to inform our partners at the universities, the state institutions that support the Studentenwerk as well as all interested individuals and institutions about the most important events and figures of the 2017 financial year.

The annual report provides you with information about important developments and economic framework data of the past year and indicates which problems the Studentenwerk Oberfranken will have to deal with in the near future. A decisive factor for the success of the 2017 financial year was the high number of students at the universities in the area served. The Studentenwerk Oberfranken has reacted to this situation with numerous investments in infrastructure and targeted personnel development, so that the demand could be met without any problems. Here I would like to express my special thanks to all of the Studentenwerk's employees in the catering companies, the hostels, the Office for Educational Support, the childcare facilities and the counselling centres, without whose tireless commitment the challenges could not have been mastered. The further development of the universities and the high number of students will continue to be decisive factors in the coming years. It is therefore important to continue to ensure excellent study conditions at all locations through the targeted expansion of the infrastructure. As part of the targeted expansion of the hostel capacities, a new hostel in Bayreuth with 244 residential units was put into operation in 2017. The refurbishment of a hostel in Coburg was also largely completed, providing students with 91 additional modern hostel places. The work of the Studentenwerk Oberfranken is an indispensable and important factor in students being able to successfully complete their studies. The Studentenwerk will continue to do everything in its power to ensure that the motto "Damit Studieren gelingt" (“so that studying is successful”), under which all German Studentenwerke operate, remains a reality for students in Upper Franconia.

Josef Tost, managing director