Types Of Higher Education Institutions : Germany

The mainstays of the tertiary education system are the academic universities and equivalent institutions. Courses of study culminate in a Master’s degree (Magister), a Diplom or a state examination (Staatsexamen). After that, further qualification is possible up to doctorate level or a second degree. Some courses of study lead only to a Master’s degree or a doctorate.

Another, the most recent but increasingly attractive type of higher education institution is the Fachhochschule, which offers highly practice-related study courses of a scientific nature (leading to a Diplom), especially in engineering, business administration, design, agriculture, social work, and youth and community work. Today nearly every third new student enrolls at a Fachhochschule, whose standard period of study is shorter than that of the universities.

In two states, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, comprehensive universities (Gesamthochschulen) were established in the early 1970s. They combine various kinds of higher education institutions under one roof and offer a correspondingly greater variety of study courses and degree programs.

Also new in the Federal Republic is the distance-learning university in Hagen, which opened in 1976. In the 1996/97 winter semester, it had nearly 40,000 students who, in addition to their correspondence courses, also attend regional centers.