What Is StuPa? The Student Parliament Behind HSRW Student Life
Behind the Campus StuPa 7 min read
Most students have heard the word StuPa at least once. Far fewer know what it actually controls.
StuPa stands for Studierendenparlament: the Student Parliament. HSRW describes it as the highest legislative body of the student body.
StuPa is not another student club. It is the parliament of the student body.
What does StuPa do?
The official HSRW description gives StuPa a central role in student self-governance.
- Sets the administrative and financial framework for the student body.
- Elects the AStA board, which leads the executive body.
- Decides major student-body matters through motions and resolutions.
- Maintains key committees, including the election committee and budget committee.
- Works under the applicable rules, including the student-body constitution, financial regulations, election regulations and contribution regulations.
The quarter-million-euro question
The adopted student-body budget for the 2025/26 financial year has a total volume of €251,874.28.
That number does not automatically tell us whether every priority is right or wrong. It tells us something more basic: student self-governance is responsible for serious financial decisions, not symbolic pocket money.
2025/26 total budget volume
meetings during lecture periods, according to HSRW
can submit motions under the prescribed procedure
Can ordinary students participate?
Yes. HSRW states that any currently enrolled student has the right—and is strongly encouraged—to submit motions to StuPa under the applicable procedure.
StuPa meetings take place during the lecture period and rotate between Kleve and Kamp-Lintfort. The official Moodle course contains meeting dates, agendas and minutes.
Open the official StuPa Moodle course (HSRW login may be required).
Why should students read the documents?
Not because every student needs to become a parliament watcher. But budgets, agendas and minutes are where broad promises become actual decisions.
Transparency works best when documents are not merely available, but understood and used by the community they belong to.
StuPa versus AStA
The simplest comparison is:
StuPa sets the major framework and elects the AStA.
AStA handles much of the day-to-day executive work.
The Lounge note
A quarter of a million euros can support representation, services, initiatives, events and student life—but only informed students can meaningfully ask what priorities they want that budget to serve.
Campus democracy becomes real when students know where the decisions are made.
This article is an independent student guide intended to help students understand HSRW's student representation. It is not an official publication of HSRW, StuPa, AStA, or any FSR. For official information, please refer to the linked HSRW sources.