Tuition fees of joint degrees
Contents
Tuition fees of joint degrees .................................................................................................................... 1
Contents ............................................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 2
Research .......................................................................................................................................... 2
Germany .............................................................................................................................................. 2
Tuition fees in Germany ................................................................................................................... 2
Bachelor-Master system in Germany ............................................................................................... 3
Joint degrees in Germany ................................................................................................................ 4
Scholarships, and funding for joint degrees in Germany ................................................................. 5
Examples of German joint degrees .................................................................................................. 5
European joint masters ........................................................................................................................ 5
Erasmus Mundus ............................................................................................................................. 5
Non-Erasmus Mundus European joint Masters ............................................................................... 6
Preliminary findings .............................................................................................................................. 6
1
Introduction
The Netherlands is preparing to make joint degrees for universities possible. A joint degree is one
diploma (BA or MA) awarded by two or more universities in different countries. The current legal
framework of higher education and research in the Netherlands does not allow for joint degrees.
However, within the framework of Bologna and Erasmus Mundus, it is important for the Netherlands to
make joint degrees possible.
The Dutch government is currently investigating the possibilities for joint degrees, and has forwarded
some questions, which have also been posted on Eurydice, about the tuition fee of joint degrees to
Nuffic:

What is the tuition fee for national students for a joint degree in the Bologna countries?

What is the tuition fee for international students for a joint degree in the Bologna countries?

Are course fees for joint degrees higher than for ‘normal’ degrees?

Are loans available for joint degrees?
The specific question for Nuffic was to look into best practices in some of the Bologna countries
regarding tuition fees for joint degrees, ideally in countries with a similar tuition system as in the
Netherlands.
Research
Desk research into the education systems, and the available range of joint degrees in Germany, but
also in the UK has been carried out. Through Naric contacts, information has been gathered from
relevant organizations in particularly Germany. In Germany two in-depth interviews were carried out,
one with Gertrud Becker-Dittrich at the Zentralstelle für ausländisches Bildungswesen im Sekretariat
der Kultusministerkonferenz, and one with Anke Stahl at Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst.
Information from the UK has unfortunately not come in yet.
This research has concentrated on Joint Masters degrees. Information on double Bachelor degrees
was found, however the first impressions are that Joint Bachelor Degrees are rare.
Some further research was done into European joint masters. An overview of Erasmus Mundus Joint
Masters should be ready by the end of January 2008.
Germany
Tuition fees in Germany
In Germany the federal states are responsible for education. Every state has its own minister of
education. The Kultusministerkonferenz is the permanent representation of these ministers. Since
2005 tuition fees can be charged in Germany for Bachelor and certain1 Master studies, however it is
up to the government of each federal state to decide whether they decide to charge tuition fees. Most
1
Please refer to the next chapter, Bachelor-Master system in Germany, for more information on the
different Master courses in Germany.
2
states have introduced tuition fees, and the maximum fee is € 500 per semester. The following states
are charging tuition fees:

Baden-Württemberg

Bayern

Nordrhein-Westfalen

Hamburg

Niedersachsen

Hessen

das Saarland
The following states are contemplating the introduction of tuition fees, but will not introduce them until
2009:

Bremen

Thüringen

Sachsen

Sachsen-Anhalt
The following stated will not introduce tuition fees in the near future:

Berlin

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Brandenburg

Rheinland-Pfalz

Schleswig-Holstein2
In some states an additional fee of € 150 can be charged to non-EU students. At the moment only the
University of Bonn in Nordrhein-Westfalen is charging this additional fee.
Bachelor-Master system in Germany
Germany has a similar educational system to the Netherlands. The German Fachhochschulen can be
compared to the Dutch Universities of Applied Sciences, and the universities in Germany and the
Netherlands are comparable. Germany is currently introducing the Bachelor-Master structure in its
higher education, and will take until 2010 to complete this.
The change into the BAMA structure implies that courses at Fachhochschulen are being changed into
Bachelors, even though courses in the old system were four years, and new Bachelor courses are
three years. Fachhochschulen are also introducing Master courses.
University courses are being changed into Masters. The academic Bachelor is a new item in the
German educational system, which explains why there are more Masters currently available at
German universities than Bachelors.
Most universities are now running the old system alongside Bachelor and Master courses. This allows
students to finish their studies in the old structure.
German Master courses can be divided into two types:
1. Consecutive Master, Konsekutive Master
2. Further Education Master, Weiterführende Master
2
http://www.unicum.de/evo/6367_1
3
The Consecutive Master is a Master course which follows directly after a Bachelor course with the
same name. The student needs to complete the Bachelor before they can enrol for the Master. This
Consecutive Master is part of the formal education system, and the tuition fees set by the federal state
apply. Consequently a student pays a maximum of € 500 per semester for a Consecutive Master.
The Further Education Master is not based on a Bachelor course. This Master is classified as further
training and has an independent status, for which the course fee is changeable. Students for Further
Education Masters usually have a job, and are able to pay higher tuition fees 3. Fees can also be paid
by employers or can be deducted from tax. In case of job loss, fees may not apply 4.
Joint degrees in Germany
Joint degrees in Germany can be either Consecutive Masters or Further Education Masters.
Depending on which type they are, tuition fees are charged. As mentioned before, for Consecutive
Masters federal states will charge € 500 per semester or nothing, depending on their government. For
Further Education Masters all states can charge a variable tuition fee ranging from € 1.350 to €
22.500.
Many joint degrees seem to be Further Education Masters, for which the following applies:

Fees are commercially based. This means that universities want to at least break-even in
running the joint Master, and consequently fees are higher than for Consecutive degrees

Fees for non-EU students are usually higher than for national students. The reason is that
costs for non-EU students are usually higher (they need information, and help with visa and
settling in in Germany)

The universities can hire interesting and more expensive teachers and speakers, as these
costs will be returned in the tuition fees

Masters in Further Education usually make sure their course is accredited as soon as
possible, so as to justify the high fees, and to make it attractive to (foreign) students 5

High fees usually mean that foreign students, in particular from the US and UK, take these
courses more seriously.
All joint degrees in Germany can be found in the database set up by the Hochschulrektorenkonferenz,
which is the permanent representative body of all rectors of higher education institutions in Germany 6.
In this database information on joint Masters (Internationaler Doppelabschluss), Consecutive Masters
as well as Further Education Masters, can be found, including tuition fees.
For 2007-2008 DAAD (the German Academic Exchange Service) has published a catalogue 7 on
International Bachelor, Master, and Doctoral programmes. This catalogue is meant for international
students wanting to study in Germany, and provides all information on courses suitable for
3
http://www.zfh.de/faq/start.php; http://neu.mbwjk.rlp.de/bildung/weiterbildung/weiterbildung-an-
hochschulen.html;
4
http://www.mbwjk.rlp.de/bildung/weiterbildung/fernstudien/foerdermoeglichkeiten.html
5
http://www.akkreditierungsrat.de/
6
http://www.hochschulkompass.de/kompass/xml/index_stud.htm
7
International Bachelor Programmes in Germany 2007/2008, International Master Programmes in
Germany 2007/2008, International Doctoral Programmes in Germany 2007/2008 DAAD, GateGermany, September 2007.
4
international students. Information on course fees cannot however be found in the catalogue; this
information can be found through the websites provided.
Scholarships, and funding for joint degrees in Germany
DAAD, the German Academic Exchange Service, provides scholarships for postgraduate courses for
professionals with relevance to developing countries 8. As these scholarships are for people with jobs,
they are for Further Education Masters. When a student enrols with a DAAD scholarship, no tuition
fees can be charged, as a German state organization can not be funding a university.
All German students can apply for funding (BaföG, Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetz)9. This is
comparable to Dutch funding (studiefinanciering).
Examples of German joint degrees
These examples are Further Education Masters:

Spatial Planning for Regions in Growing Economies – Spring, University of Dortmund10

Veterinary Public Health, Free University Berlin with Chiang Mai University in Thailand 11.
European joint masters
Erasmus Mundus
Erasmus Mundus joint Masters are based on the principle that the cooperating universities set the
tuition fee of the joint masters, independent from how the universities finance the master. The
consequence is that tuition fees for joint masters under the Erasmus Mundus umbrella are usually
higher than fee for ‘normal’ degrees. Tuition fees range roughly from € 2.000 to € 10.000 per year12.
An overview of all Erasmus Mundus joint masters, including information on tuition fees per master is
currently being written. This will be ready by the end of January 2008.
Scholarships for non-EU Erasmus Mundus students are available. The scholarship covers travel and
living expenses and tuition fees in Europe for the full duration of the course. For non-EU students the
scholarship is € 21.000 for a one-year course and € 42.000 for a two-year course. For EU students
Erasmus Mundus can offer a three-month scholarship to study in a country outside Europe. The study
period outside Europe is part of the study programme and fully recognised by your Erasmus Mundus
Masters Course. The scholarship covers travel and living expenses outside Europe for the duration of
a 3-months stay is € 3.100. This amount comprises a monthly grant of 700 Euro and a fixed amount of
1,000 Euro for travel13.
8
Postgraduate courses for Professionals with Relevance to Developing Countries, Scholarships in
Germany DAAD 2007.
9
http://www.unicum.de/6502_1, http://www.bafoeg.bmbf.de/
10
http://www.raumplanung.uni-dortmund.de/geo/spring/
11
http://www.vphcap.org/history.php
12
http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/mundus/projects/index_en.html
13
http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/mundus/student/scholar_en.html
5
From this information one can deduct that scholarships for Erasmus Mundus joint degrees for
European students is not available, apart from funding possibilities in their own country.
Non-Erasmus Mundus European joint Masters
One example of a European joint Master which is non-Erasmus Mundus: European Master in Health
and Physical Activity, which is based in Rome14. This is a two-year joint Masters degree with five other
universities in Europe, which charges € 1.400 per year. According to the Instituto Italiano 15 tuition fees
in Italy vary, and € 1,400 is higher than normal tuition fees. Other students pay the same fee of €
1,400.
Another example is the European Master’s degree in Human Rights and Democratisation16, which is
an intensive one-year academic programme to educate professionals in the field of human rights and
democratisation. 39 European universities are participating in this programme, and it is meant for
people who are already working in the field. The registration fee for this joint master is € 3.300 Euro;
the enrolment fee is € 100. Only a very limited number of students might benefit from modest financial
support in the form of a partial contribution towards living expenses and/or a full or partial tuition
waiver for this degree. The organisation responsible for this master (European Inter-University Centre
for Human Rights and Democratisation, EIUC) does not provide full scholarships. Students bear the
responsibility to secure their full living and housing expenses prior to their arrival in Venice.
Preliminary findings
Based on the information gathered so far, some preliminary conclusions can be drawn. The main
conclusion is that a distinction needs to be made between independent Further Education Master
Degrees, and Master Degrees for which a Bachelor with the same name exists. Not only in Germany
is this distinction made, but it seems to also apply to other European joint masters, in particular
Erasmus Mundus. Some European masters seem to be master courses in their own right, Further
Education Masters, for which students with various backgrounds can enrol. Consequently the answers
to the questions asked in the introduction could be the following.
1. Further Education Joint Masters are aiming at professionals who are already working;
therefore tuition fees for these Masters are generally higher than tuitions fees for ‘normal’
Master degrees. Tuition fees for Consecutive joint Master degrees are generally the same as
for ‘normal’ degrees.
2. Fees for European students tend to be lower than for non-EU students. This is due to the
extra time and costs that universities need to invest in information provision for non-EU
students.
3. Loans are generally available for non-EU students enrolling in Further Education Joint
Masters. For Consecutive Joint Masters the normal student funding of the country where the
Master is administered applies.
14
http://www.elingueiusmlearn.it/master/
15
http://www.iicamsterdam.esteri.it/IIC_Amsterdam
16
http://www.emahumanrights.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
6