DEHEMS project HE review Country report about the Higher Education System Country: Germany
Template: Country report about the Higher Education System Overview of the HE System Figure 1. Structure of the German Education System Source: Eurydice, 2007 The tertiary sector encompasses institutions of higher education and other establishments that offer study courses qualifying for entry into a profession. Higher education institutions include: Universitäten (universities) and equivalent higher education institutions (Technische Hochschulen/Universitäten, Pädagogische Hochschulen, Theologische Hochschulen), Kunsthochschulen (colleges of art), Musikhochschulen (colleges of music) and Fachhochschulen (universities of applied sciences). A 2
special role is played by the 30 Verwaltungsfachhochschulen (Fachhochschulen for public administration), which train civil servants for careers in the so-called higher level of the civil service. They are maintained by the Federation or by a Land. Their students have revocable civil servant status. The Berufsakademie offered by some Länder forms part of the tertiary sector and combines academic training at a Studienakademie with practical in-company professional training in keeping with the principle of the dual system. According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), the Fachschulen, the Fachakademien in Bayern and the two- and three-year schools in the health sector (Schulen des Gesundheitswesens) are also part of the tertiary sector. Fachschulen are continuing vocational education institutions in the tertiary sector that, as a rule, require the completion of relevant vocational training in a recognised occupation requiring formal training and subsequent employment. Schools in the health sector offer training for occupations in the health sector, e.g. nurse or physiotherapist. Many of these schools have a physical and organisational link with hospitals where both theoretical and practical training are provided. The overwhelming majority of Higher Education Institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany are state-run institutions maintained by the Länder. The Basic Law (Grundgesetz) does not expressly regulate the establishment of non-public higher education institutions. The Länder alone are responsible for awarding recognition to non-public institutions. In principle, a successful accreditation is required. In 2006 around 110 mainly small of higher education maintained privately or by the Churches were recognized by the state. Private Universities differ from the state universities in terms of financing. In the meanwhile there are about 63 private higher education institutions, which charge between 1800 to 2400 Euros per Semester including the following benefits: "small study groups, close link to the economic sector, close relation between theory and practice, highly international orientation, short study times, good employment chances". (DAAD, s.t.) There are few church institutions offering study programmes in churchly professions as well as Social pedagogues, the so called medical pedagogues (Heilpädagogen) and religious pedagogues (Religionspädagogen), specialists in health care and church musicians. The access procedure is a bit different than in other higher education institutions, because applicants have to proof their closeness to the protestant or Catholic Church. Exceptions are only at the college for Jewish studies in Heidelberg, where all people from all persuasions are accepted. (DAAD, s.t.) 3
Table 1 Overview about the German Higher Education System 1 Type of HEI Number of institutions Number of students enrolled (Percentage of Women) Number of Graduates (Percentage of Women) "Bologna Graduates" Bachelor/Master 2000 2008/9 2000 2008/9 2003 2 2008/9 2003 3 2008/9 Universities 4 119 124 1,310,990 (48,8%) "Fachhochschulen" 153 190 425,585 (36,8%) Colleges of Art 49 51 30,159 (56,4%) Fachhochschul en for Public Administration 28 30 32,604 (46,4%) 1,363,996 (51.7%) 572,751 (38.1%) 31.977 (57.6%) 27,338 (49.37%) 115,725 (53.7%) 62,249 (41.0%) 5,194 (59.3%) 11,781 (51.1%) 172,936 (57.4%) 97,187 (41.9%) 5,737 (59.5%) 8,249 (50.2%) BA: 1,511 (50.6%) MA: 1,470 (34.4%) BA: 959 (41.5%) MA: 1,483 (26.2%) BA: 2 (0%) MA: 8 (100%) MA: 54 (63%) BA: 22,809 (58.9%) MA: 10,356 (47.1%) BA: 16,870 (47.4%) MA: 6,591 (35.0%) BA: 44 (43.2%) MA: 237 (55.3%) BA: 30 (52,3%) MA: 22 (59.1%) Total 349 395 1,799,338 1,996,062 194,949 284,109 5,487 56,959 Impacts and Status of the Bologna Reform The higher education system in the Federal Republic of Germany was characterized from the 1970s to the 1990s by a two-type structure. Most study programmes at universities required 4-5 years of study and led to Magister, Diplom or Staatsexamen degrees all considered equivalent to a Master. The study programmes at Fachhochschulen (translated into English as Universities of Applied Sciences) were named three-years programmes with additional internships and possibly examination periods until the 1980s and four-years programmes including internships and possibly examination periods in the 1990s leading to a Diplom degree; this tended to be considered internationally as Bachelor+ and also 1 Source: Federal Statistic Office Germany, Fachserie 11 Reihe 4.1 and Reihe 4.2 2 Figures for 2000 were not available online. 2003 are the oldest available statistics 3 Figures for 2000 were not available online. 2003 are the oldest available statistics 4 Including Pedagogical (College of Education) and Theological Schools as well as former "Gesamthochschulen", PhDs are not included in the number of graduates 4
was counted in UNESCO statistics as ISCED Va. about one tenth of graduates from Fachhochschulen continued study at universities. In 1998, 11 per cent of the corresponding age group were awarded a university and 6 per cent a Fachhochschule degree. Graduates from both types were about 28 years old on average at the time of graduation. The introduction of a Bachelor-Master system started in Germany already in 1998, but progressed slowly. Germany changed from a one cycle system to a two-cycle system, namely from 5 years "diplom" degree to the almost in each institution 3+2 study structure. The following figure shows the cycle structure in comparison with the old structure. Figure 3: The German higher education system Source: Eurydice, 2007 In 2008, Bachelor and Master graduates comprise 20 per cent of all higher education graduates. Both, universities and Fachhochschulen are entitled to offer Bachelor and Master programmes. No formal distinction are made between Bachelor programmes; most of them comprise three years (180 ECTS credits), but some three and a half or four years. Master programmes comprise two years in most cases but in some cases one and a half or one years, and Bachelor and Master programmes altogether should last not more than five years. Masters are labelled differently: (a) theory-oriented (more often but not exclusively at universities) vs. application-oriented (more often but not exclusively at Fachhochschulen), (b) consecutive (in the same field as the bachelor) vs. non-consecutive, and (c) continuing (students are not admitted immediately upon the award of a Bachelor) vs. not continuing. It remained controversial, and divergent regulations were implemented as regards the transition from a Bachelor degree to a Master programme: In some cases, all Bachelor graduates applying are excepted while often additional selection criteria are put in place. Actually more than 70 per cent of the Bachelors transfer to Master programmes according to information available for 2007. Moves to upgrade ISCED Vb vocational training to Bachelor (professional) programmes led to controversial debates and were not implemented hitherto. 5
Unitary or Binary System Germany has with its differentiation between Universities and Fachhochschulen (Universities of Applied Science) a binary system of Higher Education. After the start of the Bologna reform, Germany adapted its ISCED 5B provision (here Fachhochschulen) to the Bologna structure, particularly the Bachelor concept. So far 96% of the total study offer in Fachhochschulen switched to the new structure, so 3,601 out of 3,748 are Bachelor- and Master programmes. (HRK, 2009) If previously, there was a clear division between the degrees awarded in an university respectively in a 'Fachhochschule' (i.e. Diplom resp. Diplom FH), the current degrees - Bachelor and Master - are unitary for all German higher education institutions. It is already discussed, if the differences between both types will be blurred in the future, in particular as the Master degree of Fachhochschulen shall give admission to PhD-studies, too. Stratification As Figure 1 makes clear, German education is highly stratified at the secondary level in three tracks. The selection takes place already at the grade IV (age of 10). Besides the differentiation in Fachhochschulen and Universities the institutions of higher education in Germany are expected to offer the same quality of teaching. There are not big differences among the majority of institutions in the same field and also no single institutions are known as "elite" institutions. Although in June 2005 a programme of the Federal-State Commission for Educational Planning and Research Promotion arranged a programme aiming to promote top-level research and to improve the overall quality of universities and science in Germany started. The so called "Excellence Innitiative" has a total budget of 1, 9 billion for the period 2006-2011, which will be split between three lines of funding: Graduate schools to promote young researchers Clusters of Excellence to promote world-class research Institutional strategies to promote top-level university research The funding was devided among the universities that applied according to the following funding scheme: 40 graduate schools with an average annual funding amount of 1 million euros each, 30 clusters of excellence with an average of 6.5 million euros per year. (Wissenschaftsrat, 2005) Up til now, the so chosen "Elite-Universities" are - in the public opinion - recognized at remarkable different than the other universities. It stays open in how far, the "earned title" will make a difference in the public perception in the future.. Standardisation) German higher education can be classed as relatively highly standardised. In particular, the core curriculum of many courses is defined by national standards. Up to the year 2002, a Joint Commission for the coordination of Study and Examination Regulation was responsible for defining fundamental regulations for examinations in courses of study leading to Diplom and Magister degrees. Under a resolution of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of March 2002, a system of accreditation has replaced the system of coordination of study and examination regulations. The objective of accreditation is to establish in a formalized and objectivised procedure that a course of study fulfils minimum standards with regard to academic content and vocational relevance. For the introduction of Bachelor s and Master s study courses, the Standing 6
Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs adopted structural requirements in 1999 and 2001. These provide for Bachelor study courses concentrating on a scientific core subject. Further scientific or interdisciplinary qualifications may be taught on a supplementary basis. Furthermore, the structural requirements differentiate between Bachelor/Master study courses with a more theoretical orientation and those that are more application oriented. For accreditation of Bachelor s and Master s study courses the Standing Conference has set up an accreditation council (Akkreditierungsrat) for all Länder. In the long term the system of accreditation is to be extended to all courses of study. As the accreditation process is based on a peer review, on can expect that most "traditional" undergraduate courses are still quite standardised across Germany. More variety can surely be found in the master courses. Selectivity In general, German higher education can be characterized as rather open and non-selective. For the majority of courses of study there are no nationwide restrictions on the number of applicants who can be admitted. Admission to any course of study at universities and equivalent higher education institutions requires the Allgemeine Hochschulreife or the fachgebundene Hochschulreife. The former entitles school-leavers to study at any institution of higher education in any subject or field, while the latter permits entry only into specified courses of studies. The Allgemeine Hochschulreife or fachgebundene Hochschulreife is obtained after 12 or 13 ascending school years on completion of the Gymnasiale Oberstufe or certain courses of vocational education at upper secondary level. This ensures that everyone can exercise his right of free choice of occupation, job and place of training as guaranteed in Article 12 of the Basic Law. All applicants who meet the above-mentioned entrance requirements are registered at the higher education institution for the course of studies of their choice without having to go through any special admission procedures. In some courses (e.g. medicine, veterinary medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, biology, business management and psychology), there are nationwide quotas due to the large numbers of applicants and the insufficient number of equivalent places available. Places on these courses are awarded by the Central Office for the Allocation of Study Places (Zentralstelle für die Vergabe von Studienplätzen) in Dortmund on the basis of a general selection procedure. Which courses are subject to the nationwide selection procedure may vary from semester to semester. The criteria for the selection of applicants in subjects with nationwide quotas are the applicant's average mark in the Abitur (school-leaving examination constituting higher education entrance qualification), the waiting period (between sitting for the Abitur and applying), the result of an institutional selection procedure and social criteria. By the 2002/2003 winter semester, the right of admission to the study courses restricted at national level was slightly modified. Now, greater account is taken of the institutions of higher education when selecting students for study courses subject to the general selection procedure. Through a selection procedure conducted by the higher education institutions 24% of applicants can be admitted. The criteria for the selection of applicants are either the applicant s average mark in the Abitur, the result of a selection interview, vocational qualifications or a combination of these three criteria. Still, not many universities are using the later methods but rather rely on the "classical" selection criteria: average mark in the Abitur. Additionally, there are in every Bundesland other ways for vocationally qualified applicants without a higher education qualification to obtain right of entry to higher education. 7
Academic versus vocational orientation In general the courses at Fachhochschulen have a high vocational orientation ("Praxisbezug"), which is reflected in their name "universities of applied sciences", while university course are in general more research/science orienented. But some field at universities tend to be vocational as well (medicine, law, engineering) while others are not at all vocational oriented (humanities, social sciences). The purpose of study at institutions of higher education is described in the Framework Act for Higher Education (Hochschulrahmengesetz) as follows: Teaching and study are to prepare students for a profession in a certain sphere of activity, imparting to them the particular knowledge, skills and methods required in a way appropriate to each course so as to enable them to perform scientific or artistic work and to act responsibly in a free, democratic and social state governed by the rule of law (Section 7). Thus, the mandate bestowed by the legislator, in line with the traditional principle of the unity of teaching and research, is to provide professional training to students in a way that directly involves scientific and academic research and artistic development. Whilst the unity of teaching and research applies to all institutions of higher education, a distinction may be drawn between the functions of universities and other types of institutions of higher education in that university education is traditionally closely linked to basic and theoretical research. Tuition fees Until 2005, no fees were charged for German higher education institutions (universities, colleges of art and music, Fachhochschulen) up to the first academic degree qualifying for an entry into a profession. Pursuant to a judgment rendered by the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht), the Länder now may, at their own discretion, impose study fees on students. In order to maintain equal educational opportunities, the interest of low-income groups of the population should be taken into account. The first Länder made use of the option to introduce general study fees in the winter semester 2006/2007 and imposed contributions of up to Euro 500 per semester. In some Länder, the higher education institutions are free to decide on the imposition of study fees and the amount thereof. Simultaneously, loan systems have been developed which provide for the legal entitlement to a student loan and the income-related repayment of the loan after completion of the study course. The study fees should be applied to the improvement of the quality of lectures and study courses and/or to the improvement of study conditions. Additionally, all students have to pay a minor contribution towards administrative fees and for the use of the institution's social facilities. If the institution has an organ of student self-administration (a General Student Committee Allgemeiner Studierendenausschuss) students also pay an additional contribution. In most Länder, fees for long-term students and for an additional course of study are now being charged. Institutional transition regimes There are no particular institutional arrangements in Germany concerning the transition of higher education graduates to the labour market Labour market programmes There are no labour market programmes in the Germany that are specifically targeted towards HE graduates entering the labour market. 8
References BMBF. (2009). Higher Education Pact. Retrieved March 9th, 2010 from URL: http://www.bmbf.de/en/6142.php Eurydice: Germany, National summary sheets on education system in Europe and ongoing reforms, 2009 Edition Eurydice. (2007). Focus on the structure of higher education in Europe. National trends in the Bologna Process - 2006/07 Edition. Germany. Brussels: Eurydice. Retrieved March 9th, 2010 from URL: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/ressources/eurydice/pdf/0_integral/086en.pdf German Academic Exchange Office (DAAD). (s.t.). Private und kirchliche Hochschulen. In Studieren und Forschen in Deutschland. Retrieved March 9th, 2010 from URL: http://www.daad.de/deutschland/hochschulen/hochschultypen/05978.de.html 9