Structure of Study

You might already know what kind of subject you would like to do. The questions that remains is how BachelorĀ“s degrees are structured.

The most important feature that was introduced with the new Europe-wide Bachelor- and Master system is the modularization. This means all the courses of the degree program belong to different modules that together form the whole BachelorĀ“s degree program. The modules are made up of different courses offered by the University.

The specific study regulations of the subject specify which modules must be studied at which point in time. A module can be made up by one or more courses. The whole course of study is expressed by so called credit points that are recognized in all the EU-states.

Most Bachelor programs comprise 180 credit points and are studied within three years. After that a graduate degree program, the so called Master tops up the Bachelor with another 120 credit points. One credit point equals about 30 hours of work load.


But how does it work in detail?

Before a degree program is introduced at University, the professors of a specific subject sit together and appoint how much time a student needs to fulfill the tasks required. This includes the time that the student sits in a lecture but also the reading time at home and the search for literature and the preparation for exams or essays and so on. All the assumed hours for these tasks are divided by thirty and the result equals the credit points for one module.

The Bachelor thesis is the final paper that students have to hand in at the end of their studies and for this an extra amount of credit points is given.

The modules the Universities or Universities of Applied Sciences offer can often be found online on the websites of the institutions in the so called module catalogues. In these catalogues the professors often describe in detail what the modules are about and how many credit points are given for the module.

Sometimes you can even find what kind of an examination there will be or what literature is recommended. In the study regulations students can look up which seminars and modules they have to do at which point of their study to finish in the given time. Some seminars or modules can be antedated or delayed, some are optional and others are mandatory.

After the Bologna Accord that has been started to make studying in Europe international, the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System has been introduced. The aim is to make the credit points that students get in their studies, as the name says, internationally transferable - meaning from one EU-country to another. The decision whether the Universities accept the credit points of another University, however, is still within the power of decision of the specific University.