The Academies of Business Administration and Public Management which are combined in a federal association offer an academic study of vocational training and advanced training at university level, but outside the university system, in 100 locations throughout Germany.
In these Academies, specialists and executives from the private and public sector go through an in-service training of six semesters (three years) to become a generalist. They receive economic, management and legal knowledge which is often supplemented with information and communication skills, aspects of political and social science, and languages. A study at these Academies cultivates methodical and critical mindsets. The participants learn how to grasp larger contexts and interrelationships and how to solve complex problems.
The vast majority of lecturers are university professors and outstanding professionals from the private and public sector.
The degree course scheme comprises 900 course lessons which are presented by way of lectures, tutorials and seminars - similar to universities. The four scientific disciplines: business administration, economics, private law and public law, are accounted for in the curriculum.
The degree for the public management study course is called 'Verwaltungs-Betriebswirt (VWA) / Graduate in Public Management' and for the business administration study course 'Betriebswirt (VWA) / Graduate in Business Administration'. Parallel to these studies, the Academies offer study programmes with a main focus on, for example, Healthcare Management, Information Management and Real Estate Economics.
Individual Academies enable young people with a general or subject-related entrance qualification to higher education to pursue a course of academic studies in addition to an in-house training. Upon successful completion of the courses the students will receive a job-qualifying degree in a recognized profession and the title of 'Betriebswirt (VWA) / Graduate in Business Administration' or 'Betriebswirt (BA)', 'Diplom-Betriebswirt (BA)' or a Bachelor degree [a business science degree at a university of cooperative education (Berufsakademie)], according to state law.
In addition to the study courses based on vocational training and advanced training the Academies offer postgraduate studies and compact courses of study as well as seminars on various topics.
Successful BA/VWA graduates can obtain a MBA (Master of Business Administration) degree at the Aston Business School in Birmingham (Great Britain), the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration (Austria), the Danube University Krems (Austria) and the IECS Strasbourg, Robert Schuman University Strasbourg (France).
