You want to continue your education, and you’re interested in a university-level course of study for working professionals. Now you’re wondering how best to integrate such a course in your professional and personal life situation. Distance learning brings with it distinct advantages: At DUW, you can learn, with academic support, wherever you are and whenever you find the time. That means you can broaden, deepen and update your knowledge and abilities while working, within your own time budget and at your learning speed. At the same time, the combination of work and study allows you to incorporate your professional projects, experience and problems in your continuing education studies and, conversely, to apply and test what you learn immediately in your professional environment.
Frequently Asked Questions
The critical advantage of distance study is that you work through most of the course content in supervised independent study, so that you are not bound to a certain time or place. You receive your study materials in the post at regular intervals, and you revise your personal time management from day to day as you work through the subject matter. DUW’s study materials are didactically designed to present knowledge in small, manageable units. Furthermore, they continuously provide opportunities to solidify your knowledge and to relate what you have learned to your professional environment. The study materials are supplemented by specific interactive online materials, including online seminars, thematic blogs and chats with expert practitioners, which allow you to discuss the subject matter with other working students and with the DUW faculty. These components of the distance-learning course are combined with carefully apportioned on-site seminars, which allow you to go into what you’ve learned in depth and apply it to selected cases from actual practice. The entire DUW team is here to advise you in all phases of your studies. In this way DUW’s flexible, blended-learning model ensures that you will achieve your educational goal.
DUW offers working professionals master’s degree courses and certificate programmes in four departments: Business and Management, Education, Health Care, and Communication. The master’s degree courses lead to the degree of Master of Arts (M. A.) or Master of Science (M. Sc.), depending on the subject. Upon successful completion of a continuing education certificate programme, you will receive a university certificate. If you fulfil the admission requirements for an appropriate master’s degree course, you can apply the course credit earned in a certificate programme towards a master’s degree.
In a master’s degree course, you develop your ability to deal scientifically with, and hence to find new answers to, day-to-day issues that arise in your profession — no matter whether the course leads to the academic degree of Master of Arts, Master of Science or Master of Business Administration.
However, a distinction is usually made between specialized and general master’s degree courses: Master’s degree courses in specialized subjects expand and deepen the knowledge gained in your undergraduate studies, while a general master’s degree course communicates interdisciplinary management expertise. If you studied microeconomics or business administration at the undergraduate level, the Master of Business Administration may be of little additional value to you. In a course leading to a Master of Arts or Master of Science degree, however, you would mainly acquire deeper knowledge in the given subject. The professional development master’s degree courses at DUW combine such field and subject-specific knowledge with interdisciplinary General Management and Personal Skills modules, which connect to the practical experience of your day-to-day work.
In April, 2008, DUW was recognized by the State of Berlin as a privately held academic university. This state recognition certifies that the subject matter and learning objectives of the programmes of study offered at DUW meet the requirements for a university. The master’s degree you earn at DUW is a fully equivalent, nationally and internationally recognized degree.
It is not always easy to choose a provider among the many offerings on the German continuing education market. The accreditation of courses is an important indication of quality, and can aid you in making your decision. All of DUW’s courses that lead to an academic degree are submitted to the accreditation procedure of an internationally recognized accreditation agency. In addition, all of DUW’s programmes are inspected and approved by the German national Distance Learning Office (ZFU) in Cologne. This certifies that the course content is complete, correct and appropriately presented to ensure that you can achieve your educational goal.
Of course. A distance study course that you take at DUW while working is a full course of study, corresponding in quality and academic scope with an on-site course. This equivalence is certified by a recognized accreditation agency. In addition, important elements of the subject matter taught are available in writing, and hence their quality is verifiable. Moreover, employers see the fact that you are completing a distance learning course while working as evidence of your dedication, your high working capacity, and your commitment to lifelong learning. This has been confirmed in surveys by renowned public opinion research institutes.
A distance education course at DUW is right for anyone who meets the admission requirements of the given course of study or certificate programme. If you are a working professional, DUW’s study model is ideal for you: The flexible, blended-learning study system combines independent study elements with carefully apportioned on-site seminars and so allows you to organize your studies according to your individual schedule. You should be aware, however, that taking any course of study while working, whether a distance learning or a part-time, on-site course, requires good time management, motivation and stamina for successful completion. We’ll help you manage it! The DUW team supports you in planning your studies. We’re here to help and advise you when you need us.
The time required can vary widely. Your individual learning speed and the amount you learn in one session depend on many things, including the prior knowledge you bring to the course, and the intensity of your professional and personal life. You may already be familiar with parts of the course material, but need more time to assimilate other parts. The DUW study model gives you the flexibility to use your time accordingly. As a rule of thumb, we recommend you allow about 15 to 20 hours a week when planning your continuing education studies.
The on-site seminars are scheduled at intervals of about three months over the entire duration of the program, and limited to a total of 18 days for a two-year master’s degree course. For twelve of these 18 days you will be in Berlin. The other six days are devoted to the field trip, a special component of all master’s degree courses at DUW. The field trip is an opportunity for a supervised, reflective examination of key aspects of the professional field concerned. You can decide to undertake your field trip either in Germany or abroad, depending on your professional and personal situation.
If you’re unable to attend a given on-site seminar for personal or professional reasons, you can simply make it up later. Studies at DUW are designed to be flexible so that your learning progress is guaranteed.
The master’s degree is highly valued in business today. Many companies support continuing education programmes for the development of their employees. Graduates of professional development master’s degree courses in particular are frequently offered opportunities for advancement by their present employers, such as new assignments and managerial responsibilities. The master’s degree is also recognized as a professional qualification abroad. On graduation, you will receive a Diploma Supplement which aids foreign employers in evaluating your degree according to international norms. Under a resolution of the Conference of Ministers of Culture of the German States (KMK), completion of a master’s degree course at DUW also gives access to the senior levels of the German civil service. Furthermore, graduates of master’s degree courses can be admitted to doctoral programmes.
Even in continuing education, there is some truth to the adage that “you get what you pay for.” Quality and results cost money, and your investment in lifelong learning benefits you in the end. DUW is a privately held scientific university that charges tuition fees for its educational services. Unlike public universities, DUW receives no state or federal funding.
Your tuition fees include all study materials, the use of the Online Campus with all its applications and tools, all exam fees, personal counselling by our student advisors, and academic supervision by our tutors and instructors throughout your course of study. Tuition fees do not include your expenses for travel and meals during the on-site seminars in Berlin and the field trip, nor the costs of supplementary literature.