Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg Stuttgart - Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University Stuttgart

Currently more than 5500 students are enrolled in the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University Stuttgart (DHBW). Working together with more than 2000 selected companies and welfare services, the Cooperative State University offers 20 dually accredited, practice-oriented bachelor degree programs in the areas 'Economics', 'Technology' and 'Social Work', with the final degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Engineering or Bachelor of Science. The dual curriculum guarantees its graduates excellent career opportunities. The transformation of the former Berufsakademie (University of Cooperative Education) into the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University on March 1, 2009 has included the positive developments of the Berufsakademie; the new Cooperative State University will have the legal status of a university and be entitled to award degrees. However, the structural features of the former Berufsakademie will also be preserved in the Cooperative State University.

• Study Programmes

Students setting up an experiment. Photo: DHBW

Studying in small groups is fun. Photo: DHBW

Applicants wishing to enroll in a study course at the DHBW Stuttgart must

• have a general or special certificate of university entrance qualification
• have entered into a traineeship agreement with a suitable company.

• List of Dual Parnters (in German)

The Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University achieves a close integration of theory and practice as part of its dual study concept which combines practical experience and theoretical study. The courses consist of alternating three-month phases, with students obtaining theoretical knowledge at the university followed by a period of practical vocational training in a company or a social institution.

While the university imparts technical, application-oriented and methodological knowledge together with the capacity for theoretical and systematical analysis, the practical phases offer the opportunity to apply the theoretical knowledge in practice on the job.

Framework schedules help coordinate the theoretical and practical stages and ensure that, in addition to specialized knowledge and methods, the students also acquire a good measure of decision-making and social skills. The subjects taught do not merely include the latest scientific findings but are also continually adapted to the changing demands of the world of work.

Every student working towards a degree at the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University is also an employee and receives a monthly remuneration from his or her company or social institution for the duration of the degree course.

The DHBW offers excellent conditions to its students. Courses and lectures are taught in small groups which create a more efficient working environment but also facilitate personal contacts to lecturers and fellow students. Lectures, workshops, projects, excursions and simulation games additionally provide diversity and change during the semester. In addition, an extremely well-stocked library, PC rooms, learning bays and technical laboratories as well as the most modern e-learning systems offer an optimal working environment.

Several of the study courses offer the opportunity of completing some of the theory and practice stages outside Germany. The DHBW Stuttgart has close links to numerous universities and partner organizations, for example in the USA, Australia, Great Britain, Spain, France and other countries.

After successfully completing the study course, the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University offers Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degrees in economics and Social Studies, a Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng) degree in technology and a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree in the computer-oriented degree courses Business Information Technology and Applied Information Technology.

The embedding of students in a company or a social institution during the study course is very much appreciated by industry: more than 80 percent of graduates are taken on as employees by the companies or institutions who train them. Several studies have shown that the degree courses open up many promising career opportunities for graduates in responsible positions.

And the proportion of women among the DHBW graduates is higher than that of comparable academic groups.

• Locations of the DHBW Stuttgart (in German)
• Branches of the DHBW Stuttgart (in German)