Bachelor and Master
With the so-called Bologna declaration in 1999, numerous European countries agreed to create a uniform European study system. The process will be completed by 2010. Greater comparability and transparency are to be achieved by adjusting the different systems. A further aim is to increase mobility and improve preparation of the graduate for the international labour market are striven for.
The most important milestones of the Bologna process are:
- Creation of a two-level system of Bachelors and Masters degrees (after three and/or a further two years of full-time study)
- Modularisation of programmes
- Introduction of performance credits according to ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) – 1 ECTS point translates into a work performance of approx. 30 hours
- Accreditation of the programmes and evaluation by a quality assurance system
In 2006, the programmes at the Baden-Wuerttemberg University of Cooperative Education (which became the Cooperative State University (DHBW) on 1st March 2009) were changed to the Bachelors / Masters system. Nothing has changed as regards the familiar quality and integration of practical phases. Also the dual character of the programmes remains (e.g. recruitment of students by companies and social institutions and involvement of dual partners in the boards of the DHBW).
In its conference held on 8 July 2008, the Permanent Accreditation Commission (SAK) of the “Zentrale Evaluations- und Akkreditierungsagentur” (ZeVA) assessed the six-semester programmes of the then BA to have a workload of 210 ECTS points. This regulation has been in force since 2006 (degree in 2009).
