First degree or second degree?
First degree
If you have not previously studied or have not yet successfully completed a course of study at a German higher education institution, you will need to apply to study for a first degree. If you have successfully completed a Bachelor degree programme and wish to transfer to the corresponding Master degree programme, you will also need to follow the application process for first degrees.
Second degree
If, at the time of applying to Paderborn University, you have successfully completed a course of study at a German higher education institution, you will need to apply to study for a second degree.
Institutions of higher education include universities, former comprehensive universities, teacher training colleges, colleges of music, colleges of art, sport universities, Bundeswehr (German armed forces) universities, ecclesiastical colleges and universities of applied sciences, including universities of applied sciences for public administration. They do not include vocational colleges* or any predecessor institutions of universities of applied sciences, e.g. higher technical colleges and engineering schools.
A course of study is deemed to have been completed when the respective mandatory final examination has been successfully passed. Degrees are all professional qualification awarded by a higher education institution (e.g. Diploma, Magister, Bachelor, Master, State Examination; in the case of law or teacher training, the First State Examination). For further information on final examinations, please contact the office responsible for conducting the relevant examination.
Exception to the regulations governing second degrees: If the Master degree programme you wish to pursue requires completion of a qualifying Bachelor degree programme, you will need to apply for a first degree.
| Transfer from a completed | to a | First/second degree |
| Bachelor degree programme | Master degree programme | First degree |
| Bachelor degree programme | Bachelor degree programme | Second degree |
| State examination course | Bachelor degree programme | Second degree |
| State examination course | Master degree programme | Second degree |
| Diploma course | Bachelor degree programme | Second degree |
| Diploma course | Master degree programme | Second degree |
| Diploma course (UAS) | Bachelor degree programme | Second degree |
| Diploma course (UAS) | Master degree programme | First degree |
| Master degree programme | Master degree programme | Second degree |
* Among other things, Baden-Wuerttemberg’s vocational colleges were granted university status on 1 March 2009 and are now called “co-operative universities”. Applicants who obtained their degree from one of these higher education institutions after 28 February 2009 are considered to be second degree applicants.
⇒ What do I need to consider when applying for a second degree?