The Dual Study System

The dual system of learning in which employers and state-run professional educational schools cooperate has a long tradition in Germany. The Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg Karlsruhe/Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University Karlsruhe transferred the traditional system of dual vocational training to the level of university education.

In 1974, Baden-Württemberg launched the new project aimed at creating a fully integrated system of higher education on a tertiary educational level. It took only a few years for the project in Baden-Württemberg to develop this system of higher education with now approximately 23,000 students in Baden-Württemberg. Around 2,200 students are currently enrolled at the Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg in Karlsruhe in the fields of Business Administration, Engineering and Computer Science.

A student enrolled at the Duale Hochschule/Cooperative State University is both a student and an employee. Thus, the Duale Hochschule has two learning places: the 'Duale Hochschule' as the 'center for academic course work', and the company providing 'the center for on-the-job training'. Phases of course work (theory) - normally of 12 weeks duration in a term of six months - alternate with periods of on-the-job-training of equal duration. The students have a training contract with a partner company of the university, and throughout the entire programme they receive a monthly salary.
The formal requirement for studying at the Duale Hochschule is normally the German university entrance examination ('Abitur'). In addition, the students need the employment contract with one of the partner companies as a necessary condition of enrollment.
After three years the students leave the university with a bachelor degree of 201 ECTS credits. The students' future prospects are excellent: more than 90% oft he students receive a permanent contract immediately after graduation.