Around 2,000 degree programmes suitable for dual study

There are currently 1,989 dual study programmes in Germany, 1,960 of which lead to a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree. This represents 9.5 percent of all 20,635 degree programmes offered in Germany. The country’s federal state with the largest number of dual study programmes is Bavaria (527), followed by Baden-Württemberg (352) and Rhineland-Palatinate (115). These are the findings of a printed paper in which the Federal Government informs the German Bundestag about the interim results of a scientific study conducted by the CHE Centre for Higher Education in cooperation with Forschungsinstitut Betriebliche Bildung (f-bb) to determine the current status of dual study.

The aim of the ongoing study entitled “Duales Studium: Umsetzungsmodelle und Entwicklungsbedarfe” (Dual study: implementation models and needs for development) is to establish an overview of the implementation of dual study in the German federation and the federal states, and to analyse conditions for success and influencing factors. Both the supply and demand sides are considered, using empirical data obtained from surveys of participating higher education institutions (HEIs) and colleges of cooperative education, dual students and companies. The complete study is scheduled for publication in spring 2022. Parliamentarians are being informed of the first results in Printed Paper 19/31267.

The first step, undertaken between October 2020 and March 2021, was to evaluate the most recent data available (from 2019) on dual study programmes, dual study entrants, students and graduates. This revealed that the majority of dual study programmes continue to be offered at universities of applied sciences (1,757). As a result, around a quarter (25.9 per cent) of all degree programmes at this type of HEI are suitable for dual study. In contrast, only 88 dual study programmes are available in total at universities. This corresponds to a marginal share of 0.7 per cent of all university degree programmes in Germany.

Colleges of cooperative education are also comparatively well represented when it comes to dual study programmes. Around ten per cent of all 40,575 dual study entrants are enrolled at this type of HEI. Colleges of cooperative education currently exist in five federal states: Hamburg, Hesse, Lower Saxony, Saarland and Saxony. In Baden-Württemberg, Thuringia and Schleswig-Holstein, colleges of cooperative education were made cooperative state universities in 2009, 2016 and 2018. Saxony intends to follow suit, as announced by its Ministry of Science in January 2021.

Another noteworthy development is the continuing trend towards study programmes that include a practice element. Nearly 75 per cent of first-year students now choose this variant. Originally, dual study programmes were strongly dominated by the model that includes an apprenticeship, i.e. a combination of studies and vocational training requiring assessment by a Chamber. In contrast, the model that includes a practice element combines studies with longer blocks of practice. This type of programme gives HEIs and companies greater freedom than in the case of having to offer a regulated apprenticeship in parallel to the degree programme.

The printed paper is available on the internet at this link. Details about the relevant contact persons and more information on CHE’s academic study entitled “Duales Studium: Umsetzungsmodelle und Entwicklunsgbedarfe” can be found online here.