With around 7,500 students enrolled (5,000 in the core subject and 2,600 in the minor subject), Faculty 02 is the second largest at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. In addition, there are a further 5,200 students who are studying to become secondary school teachers and are completing the educational science part of their teaching degree in the department. One in ten of them is studying for a teaching degree in social studies or sport and therefore also completes their subject-related part within the department.

The department consists of six institutes or disciplines: educational science, political science, journalism, psychology, sociology and sports science. These institutes offer a total of 8 undergraduate Bachelor’s and 17 postgraduate Master’s degree courses. Every year, more than 600 first-year students choose one of the department’s diverse degree courses. Most of the degree programs are currently subject to admission restrictions, as they are all in high demand on the applicant market and are therefore fully booked. JGU has recently expanded the department’s resources in order to meet the increasing demand.

69 professors (including 15 junior professors) and over 300 academic and non-academic staff are employed in Faculty 02 and guide more than 600 students to a professional qualification every year. Around 25 doctoral and post-doctoral theses are published each year by young academics in the department.