Academic Degree - Degree Systems By Regions - Europe - Germany

Germany

Traditionally in Germany, students graduated after four to six years either with a Magister Artium (abbreviated M.A.) degree in Social Sciences, Humanities, Linguistics and the Arts or with a Diplom degree in Natural Sciences, Economics, Business Administration, Political Science, Sociology, Theology and Engineering. Those degrees were the first and at the same time highest non-PhD/Doctorate-title in many disciplines before its gradual replacement by other, Anglo-Saxon-inspired degrees. In Germany, a Magister or Diplom awarded by universities, which both require a final thesis, is popularly considered equivalent to a master's degree from countries following an Anglo-American model; the Diplom awarded at a Fachhochschule are equivalated to the Bachelor degree. However, degree equivalencies are highly contentious, and this is not the general opinion outside of Germany. For example, these traditional German first degrees are regarded by the University of California, the top-ranked public university system in the United States, as equivalent to an American bachelor's degree for purposes of graduate school admission. In fact, bachelor's degrees vary widely throughout the United States and the world, and even British bachelor's degrees, with the exception of Honours degrees from select universities, are not considered by the University of California to meet their graduate school admission requirements.

A special kind of examination is the Staatsexamen. It is not an academic degree but a government licensing examination that future doctors, dentists, teachers, lawyers (solicitors), judges, public prosecutors, patent attorneys, and pharmacists have to pass in order to be eligible to work in their profession. Students usually study at university for 4–6 years before they take the first Staatsexamen. Afterwards teachers and jurists go through a form of pupillage for two years, before they are able to take the second Staatsexamen, which tests their practical abilities in their jobs. The first Staatsexamen is at a level which is equivalent to a M.Sc. or M.A.

Since 1999, the traditional degrees are gradually being replaced by Bachelor's (Bakkalaureus) and Master's (Master) degrees (see Bologna process). The main reasons for this change are to make degrees internationally comparable, and to introduce degrees to the German system which take less time to complete (German students typically take five years or more to earn a Magister or Diplom). Some universities are still resistant to this change, considering it a displacement of a venerable tradition for the pure sake of globalization. Universities must fulfill the new standard by the end of 2007. In the future, the Diplom or Magister degree will no longer be awarded.

Doctorates are issued under a variety of names, depending on the faculty: e.g., Doktor der Naturwissenschaften (Doctor of Natural Science); Doktor der Rechtswissenschaften (Doctor of Law); Doktor der Medizin (Doctor of Medicine); Doktor der Philosophie (Doctor of Philosophy), to name just a few. Multiple doctorates and honorary doctorates are often listed and even used in forms of address in German-speaking countries. A Diplom (from a Universität), Magister, Master's or Staatsexamen student can proceed to a doctorate. The doctoral promotion (e.g. to Dr.rer. nat., Dr.phil. and others) is the highest academic degree in Germany and generally equivalent to a Bologna Ph.D. degree. (The American Ph.D., for example, may be in some cases of higher standard, closer to the Habilitation (see below). However, this may apply to the comparisson of UK and US Ph.D. degrees, too.) The degree Dr.med. for medical doctors has to be viewed differently, however; medical students usually write their doctoral theses right after they have completed studies, without any previous conducted scientific research, just as students in other disciplines write a Diplom, Magister or Master's thesis.

Sometimes incorrectly regarded as a degree, the Habilitation is an academic qualification in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland that allows further teaching and research endorsement after a doctorate. It is earned by writing a second thesis (the Habilitationsschrift) or presenting a portfolio of first-author publications in an advanced topic. The exact requirements for satisfying a Habilitation depend on individual universities. The "habil.", as it is abbreviated to represent that a habilitation has been awarded after the doctorate, was traditionally the conventional qualification for serving at least as a Privatdozent (e.g. "PD Dr. habil.") (Lecturer) in an academic professorship (now called W2 and W3). Some German universities no longer require the Habilitation, although preference may still be given to applicants who have this credential, for academic posts in the more traditional fields.