Admission Requirements for 120-ECTS

• Completed, undergraduate degree with 180 ECTS with a focus on economics or related subjects
• Your degree must be from a state or state-recognised higher education institution/university .
• You must have achieved a final grade of at least “satisfactory” or Grade C equivalent in your previous undergraduate degree.

Admission Requirements for 60-ECTS

• Completed undergraduate degree with 240 ECTS
• Your degree must be from a state or state-recognised higher education institution/university
• You must have achieved a final grade of at least “satisfactory” or Grade C equivalent in your previous undergraduate degree
• Proof of at least one year’s professional work experience completed prior to the start of study programme. Work experience must have been gained after completion of your undergraduate studies

Depending on your previous education, the following entry options are applicable for the 60-ECTS Master’s degree:

• undergraduate degree with 210 ECTS: you can bridge the gap of 30 ECTS points with the proof of one year qualified work experience
• undergraduate degree with 180 ECTS: you can bridge the gap of 60 ECTS points with the proof of two years qualified work experience

Recognition of knowledge and abilities acquired outside of higher education is possible in principle.

Is your undergraduate degree not in the required subject field for this programme's 120 ECTS points variation admission requirements? You can still apply! You'll have to take 2 specific courses at the start of your studies, and pass them successfully in order to continue with your studies. That way, you don't have to take an entrance examination, and can prove your skills while earning ECTS points as part of your studies.

For the 60 ECTS programme:

• Proof of at least one year’s qualified work experience completed prior to the start of the study programme (the work experience must be gained after the completion of your undergraduate studies).
• Don’t have a year’s worth of qualified work experience? Don’t worry! With the Scholarship Programme, you can start your studies right away, and gain your professional experience alongside your studies. You’ll need to achieve the one year’s worth of experience before you complete your Scholarship Programme.
• You can provide us a translation of your employment contract and your pay slip or you can ask your company to fill out this form in English, sign it, apply the company stamp and send it to us.
• Proof of work experience (EN)
  Proof of work experience (FR)

Depending on your personal circumstances, you might be required to provide proof of your English language proficiency. Your skills would need to match the B2 level of the Common European Framework (CEF).

We accept the following English language skills certificates*:

• TOEFL (minimum 80 points)* or 
• IELTS (minimum Level 6)* or 
• Duolingo English Test (minimum 95 points)* or
• Cambridge Certificate (minimum Grade B)*

• Is English your native language, or have you graduated from an English-speaking school or university? Then you do not need to prove your English language proficiency.

  Get in touch with our study advisors for more details.

  *Proof must be provided before the start of the study and must not be older than five years.

Apply for the scholarship programme and receive a discount on your tuition fees.

Please get in touch with our Study Advisory Team for more details.

IU is based in Germany; we have one campus in Berlin and another in Bad Honnef. Check out the Our University page for more information.

All our current study programmes are state-accredited and approved by the German Science Council and the state of Thuringia, and are in line with the European ECTS accreditation framework (the Bologna process).

IU is also able to independently accredit new programmes in accordance with the legally defined quality standards of the German government, as we have been given the status of system accreditation.

IU International is certified by FIBAA, assuring the quality of teaching and material. We are also listed on the European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR).

All of the degree programmes we offer are planned and monitored under strict conditions and adhere to both German academic standards and international ones, in line with the principles of the Bologna Process. This ensures that our degrees and the ECTS points are graduates earn are internationally recognised.

Some countries and professions might require additional accreditation processes. To assist you in such a case, we will be happy to issue a copy of the Europass Diploma Supplement, in English. .

IU has an extensive network of corporate partners and collaborations, enabling an exchange of knowledge and contacts which benefit our students. Check out Our Network of Partners page for more.

IU has a large university network of partner institutions across the world. One of these university partners is London South Bank University (LSBU). Students at IU have coordinated dual degree programmes with LSBU, meaning you have the opportunity to acquire a British degree in addition to your German degree from IU.

IU’s admission requirements depend on the study programme you are interested in. You can find the exact requirements for each programme listed on the page of each respective study programme, but if you’re looking for a general outline of our admission requirements, you can find it under the question “What documents do I need to prepare for my admission?” In this FAQ.

Once you’ve chosen the study programme you want to take, and checked that you meet the application requirements, the next step is submitting your online application.

At the end of your online application, a study contract will be made available for you to download. At this point, just sign and upload your study contract via your uploads page. You’ll get a link to it along with your contract.

Once your signed contract is uploaded, you’ll need to upload your admission documents. Our admissions team will then check them to determine whether you are indeed eligible to start your desired study programme. You also need to pay the fees for the first month at this stage.

If some documents are still required, admissions will let you know by email. If payment has been completed, you will be registered and will receive an email with the next steps.

Once your starting date arrives, you will receive credentials to log in to Mycampus and can begin your studies. Good luck!

Relevant documents that are needed for admission to a Bachelor's or Master’s programme can be found on our website in the respective page of your desired study programme.

In general, you will need to provide the following before you start your studies:

• Study contract signed (this will be made available for download at the end of your Online Application Form)
• University entrance qualification (this can be an upper secondary school certificate or a Bachelor’s degree, depending on the programme)*
• Upper secondary school transcript of records (with courses and grades)
• Proof of English proficiency (for detailed information, see next question of this section)
• For certain Master or MBA programs: proof of work experience

And the following needs to be provided within the first three months of your studies:

• CV (in tabluar form)
• National ID (with your photo)
• Certified copies of your application documents – the originals and the translations*

*The admissions documents must be provided in English or German, if they were not issued in one of these two languages, a translation is required. If you need to translate your documents, we can help refer you to our trusted translation partners M21 Global.

If you translate your documents via M21 Global, there’s no need to provide a certified copy of the translation, as this is done by them. You’ll only need to certify the original language version of your documents.

Depending on your personal circumstances, you might be required to provide proof of your English language proficiency. Your skills would need to match the B2 level of the Common European Framework (CEF).

We accept the following English language skills certificates*:

• TOEFL (minimum 80 points)* or
• IELTS (minimum Level 6)* or
• Duolingo English Test (minimum 95 points)* or
• Cambridge Certificate (minimum Grade B)*

Is English your native language, or have you graduated from an English-speaking school or university? Then you do not need to prove your English language proficiency.

Your application is complete as soon as your study contract and admission documents are uploaded and approved. The sooner our admissions team receives your application documents, the quicker your admission is reviewed.

IU offers you the flexibility to submit your documents whenever you’re ready, but we strongly encourage you to finish this step as early as possible.

Some of our Master and MBA programmes require work experience in a relevant field under certain circumstances. This must have been achieved after completion of your bachelor. Admission requirements for each course are available on course pages. .

We guarantee IU online students maximum flexibility, so you can choose your own starting date in your application. On that day, we will send you the access data you need to begin.

On Campus:

We offer 2 to 4 intake dates per year, depending on the programme, but you can apply at any time. However, our on-campus programmes have fixed starting times. See the course pages for more.

IU International University of Applied Sciences is a German accredited university, which means we as an institution are bound by state regulations. To find out more about our accreditations, rankings, and degree recognitions.

In case you don’t meet admission requirements, our study advisory team will provide you with the relevant requirements you will ultimately need to meet in order to be admitted. This may include, for example, completing free admission courses before starting your study programme – or choosing a different programme.

Yes, we have taken various life obligations into account when designing our online study programmes. Therefore, you can switch between three time models and set your own learning pace, according to your personal needs.

The regular study period for a Bachelor’s degree is 36 months, but you have the option of choosing between the extended study periods of 48 or 72 months. You can also extend your regular study period – even during your studies - by 12 months.

The regular study period for the Master is usually 12 or 24 months, depending on the ECTS points of your study programme. Here, too, we offer part-time variants that run for 36 or 48 months. You can also extend your regular study period – even during your studies - by 12 months. .

Yes, we offer you the option of taking a semester off to allow yourself a break from studying. During this time, your study programme will be suspended, and you will not have access to the online learning platform or your learning materials. We therefore do not charge any fees during your semester off.

A leave of absence is possible from the second semester onwards. In total, a leave of absence may not exceed half of the regular study period for your online study programme (e.g., for a six-semester Bachelor, this equates to a maximum of three semesters of leave). .

Twice a year, we hold graduation ceremonies on our campuses in Germany. Online students are welcome to participate at their own expense. If you do not wish to attend, we will send you your degree certificate by post, free of charge. .

Since 1998, we have supported thousands of students of various backgrounds and age groups in developing themselves both personally and professionally. Our campuses and our online environment are home to a community of over 85,000 students from all kinds of backgrounds, career levels, nationalities, and experiences.

Online students do not require a residence permit/Visa to study at IU. Students planning to study on campus will need to apply for one, only if they are not EU nationals.

If you spend the last 6 months of your degree studying in Germany, you get the chance to apply for an 18-month post-study Visa to remain in Germany after graduation and seek work. Our student office will be happy to assist with any Visa-related queries.

Your degree certificate should be with you up to 10 weeks after getting your final grade. You can find samples of the degree certificate and transcript of records for Bachelor, Master and MBA

We are part of more than 10,000 Cambridge International schools that offer these qualifications. IU is registered as an online school that provides these courses digitally to prepare students for the Cambridge examinations.

We will provide you with all the necessary materials needed to prepare for the Cambridge examination. We provide this through synchronous and asynchronous teaching, scripts, Q&A, Slides, Videos, Podcasts, etc.

We provide synchronous and asynchronous teaching.

No, we are registered as an online Cambridge School. We only provide these courses online.

Anyone without a high school diploma (or an equivalent secondary school leaving certificate, like A-Levels or an IB Diploma) can take High School Diploma Study Pathway. You do not need any kind of school certificate; the only requirement is to be over 16 years old.