Germany

image/svg+xml Map of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) Map of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) A blank map of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and countries fully surrounded by the EHEA. Every country has an id which is its ISO-3116-1-ALPHA2 code in lower case. Members of the EU have a class="eu", all EHEA countries have a class="europe", non-EHEA countries have a class="nonehea". Image based on https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blank_map_of_Europe_(with_disputed_regions).svg by Júlio "Tintazul" Reis and Marian "maix" Sigler. Made by Colin Tück, EQAR, 2017 Released under CreativeCommons Attribution ShareAlike (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/).
  • Membership in EQAR
    Germany has been a Governmental Member of EQAR since February 2008.

    Read more: all Governmental Members of EQAR

  • General information on higher education

    The tertiary education sector in Germany includes universities and equivalent institutions of higher education (Technische Hochschulen/Technische Universitäten, Pädagogische Hochschulen, theological colleges) Fachhochschulen (universities of applied sciences) and colleges of art and music.

    A number of establishments outside the formal higher education systems are offering equivalent higher education degrees: higher education offered by the Federal Armed Forces; Verwaltungsfachhochschulen offered by Länders and Berufsakademie where professional academies combine academic training with practical professional training.

    The legal basis of higher education in Germany is covered by the general Higher Education Act, by the legislation on higher education of the Länders (Hochschulgesetze), as well as the legislation regarding colleges of art and music and the legislation of Fachhochschulen of the Länders.

  • National external quality assurance requirements

    A new legal basis has been established for the accreditation system in Germany, following the resolution of the Federal Constitutional Court on 17.02.2016

    • System Accreditation
      is optional, and enables the institution to self-accredit its study programmes. The accreditation is limited in time for a period of eight years.

    • Programme Accreditation
      applies for Bachelor and Master degree programs of state or state-recognized universities in Germany. The accreditation is obligatory unless the institution has a valid system accreditation.

  • Cross-border quality assurance

    In Germany higher education institutions may choose a suitable EQAR-registered agency.

    • Eligibility requirements for foreign agencies: Admission by the German Accreditation Council (GAC) is based on EQAR-registration

    • Conditions for the agencies’ work (e.g. criteria to be used): use of national standards and criteria (see below)

    • Recognition of reviews carried out by foreign agencies: Applications for program and system accreditation must be addressed to the German Accreditation Council.

    Read more: countries where higher education institutions may choose a suitable EQAR-registered agency

  • European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes

    In Germany the European Approach is available to higher education institutions under certain conditions.

    All German higher education institutions can opt for programme accreditation of joint degrees by an EQAR-registered agency using the European Approach, however not for joint programmes leading to double or multiple degrees.

    Read more: countries where the European Approach is available to higher education institutions

  • Further information

Registered agencies operating in Germany