Uni or FH – the Prejudices and Biases about Them

1) Definitions

Many students are confused about these two forms of higher education institutes in Germany
when they start to apply but they are equally confused by the differences in the terms
Hochschule, Fachhochschule, Universität, TU. I will try to clarify these terms in the first part
and then discuss other issues.

Hochschule in this document refers to any kind of higher education institute and includes
Universität, TU, Art-Hochschules, Fachhochschule etc. It is not to be confused with
Fachhochschules which is a sub-category of the general term Hochschule. This definition is in
accordance with §1 of the following law: http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/hrg/. In everyday
use, Hochschule may be used to refer to Fachhochschule (which causes the confusion).

Universität/Uni – includes Universities, Technical Universities (TUs); TU is just a Universität

with more focus on technological subjects. TUs don’t offer subjects like law or medicine.

Fachhochschules/FH – includes University of Applied Sciences

2) Introduction

Universität and FHs are locked in an eternal battle. However, as time progresses, the
differences are getting smaller – especially after the introduction of the Bachelor-Master
degrees. Before this change, Diplom degree was awarded to students (which is equivalent to
current day Masters) but FH graduates were forced to write “FH” after their title “Dipl. –Ing” in
their CVs etc. Uni students were considered smarter and had a theoretical background. FH
students came with practical experience but couldn’t design or research. Accordingly, Uni
graduates were expected to climb higher in their careers and earn more. All this is changing
now.

To understand the base of this conflict, one must consider the German education system
which is considerably different than that in most other countries. After primary school, children
are separated into different types of secondary schools depending on their performance. You
can refer to this Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Germany
particularly the sections Secondary education and Application for German Universities (some
details can also be found on the German Embassy’s website). Gymnasium is the most reputed
secondary school and after completing it and taking the exams, one obtains the Abitur
(allgemeine Hochschulreife) which allows access to Uni as well as FH. If one chooses only
particularly subjects in high school, one can get a fachgebundenes Abitur or fachgebundene
Hochschulreife which allows admission to particular subjects at Uni or for any subject at FH. If
one obtains a Fachhochschulreife, one can only study at FH. Some types of secondary school
certificates only allow access to vocational schools etc. and not for studying scientific subjects
or law etc. (which one can study at FH or some subjects such as pure sciences - only at Uni).

There are many other secondary school certificates in Germany (variations in different states)
but the important thing to note here is that the choice of studies one has after finishing school
is already limited by the type of secondary education a student had based on his performance
in primary school! This concept hence defines that the brightest students go to Uni to study
physics, maths, law, and medicine etc. whereas those who find learning not interesting can
study subjects leading to particular professions with integrated part-time practical experience.
 This “separation” can also be observed for PhD studies. Very few FH graduates manage to
get a PhD position and those who do must have excellent grades and might be asked to study
and pass some more subjects. The reason is that in that type of Hochschule, not as much
focus is put on theory as in a Uni.

3) What’s true and what’s not?

Here are some of the clichés and prejudices surrounding Uni and FH:

At FH study the practitioners, Uni students cram theory

Originally, this statement was true. FHs were created with the goal to provide as much
practical exposure as possible. With the new Bachelor and Master degree system, things are
changing – also studies at Unis should have stronger focus to prepare students for a career.

In subjects like engineering, the Unis also put emphasis on practical orientation – the
theoretical foundations play, nonetheless, a bigger role than at a FH. When selecting a
Hochschule, prospective students should listen to their gut feeling. The teaching culture of the
Hochschule-type should play a vital role in this choice. Study groups at FH are traditionally
smaller. For those who find sitting with couple of hundred classmates in a lecture hall
overwhelming, they should consider FH.

One of the requirements for applications for a FH-Professor job is to have at least 5 years
industrial experience. Uni-Professors don’t have any such restrictions.

Uni students are cleverer than FH students

Also when this prejudice is not true, there are differences in the students. Universities attract
students from higher social strata; FH is more popular among children of working class. Social
status also affects the fields students choose and the chances of obtaining a university
degree. Children from families where parents do not have university education do not have a
role model to motivate them.

Uni students like to stroll, FH timetable is tightly scheduled

The learning system is different in the two types of Hochschules.

At FH, the studies are more school-like with clearly defined tasks and timetables. One who
prefers a clear structure and a concretely designed study-plan might find FH teaching style
better.

Students at Uni may get lesser clearer instructions and the exams can be very different than
what was taught in the classroom. Uni students are expected to be more independent and can
choose from many different subjects. But this can be overwhelming for some students.

It is more of a question of the individual’s learning style – can one do good time management?
Or a timetable is necessary? Do I like to read more books and study also for self-
development?

At both types of Hocschules, the number of credit hours (which are related to teaching hours)
are more or less the same (180-240 ECTS for Bachelor and 90-120 ECTS for Master).

Clear Job Description

The study programs at FHs are mostly dedicated towards a single profession e.g. Nautical and
Maritime traffic at Hochschule Bremen or Nursing Management at HS Fulda. Those who know
exactly what they want to take up as a career can look up a program matching that field from
FH. Those who want more career paths to remain open should decide for the Uni.

An exchange between FH and Uni is not possible

After the introduction of the Bachelor and Master degree system, this statement is no longer
true. Bachelor degrees from FH are considered equivalent to that from Uni and no Uni can
decline an admission request for Masters from a FH-graduate but the seats are limited and the
admission criteria are decided by each Uni individually. Usually, this is good grades,
sometimes the applicant must take extra exams or fulfill other admission criteria.

FH are provincial, only at Uni students can get an international education

Irrespective whether Uni or FH, there are rarely any educational institutes who have not set
internationalization as their goal. Big Unis open up offices abroad; some even set up
campuses outside Germany. This is also true for FHs. Also German students are encouraged
to have spent some time abroad either as an exchange semester or as an internship.

One who wants to make a career, must go to Uni

Not true. Some surveys have showed that FH graduates find a full-time position quicker than
Uni graduates and may even climb up the ladder quicker.

But in some companies, there is no place for FH graduates e.g. the big strategy consulting
companies like McKinsey or Boston Consulting Group. Also in top management, FH graduates
are difficult to find. For positions in management beneath the executive board, Uni graduates
are preferred. Chief executive of Audi who studied at business administration at
Fachhochschule Augsburg is one of the few exceptions.

According to a survey conducted by Universum in cooperation with WirtschaftsWoche, Uni

graduates were ahead in six different disciplines. 35% of the participating business
consultants preferred Master graduates from Uni, 17% preferred Masters from FH. One who
has started with Bachelor studies at FH, can change to Uni for Masters (provided conditions
for grades etc. are met) and also one can do Masters from FH after Bachelors from Uni.

With Uni degree, one earns more

In the earlier degree system of Diplom, many comparisons show that Uni Diplom holders earn
more than their counterparts from FH; also after 5-10 years experience. However, the newly
introduced Bachelor and Master system is expected to change this and pay scales for both are
expected to be similar. FH graduates with 2 years experience earn between 41,168 and
47,507 Euros per year. The figures for Uni graduate are between 42,984 and 50,443 Euros
according to the findings of a research company Personalmarkt. The top earning professions
are the classic Uni programs like Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Medicine and
Law (these are not taught at FHs).

FHs don’t do any research

This prejudice is held strongly but is not correct. Many FHs work on topics which are
economically in great demand. They work in close cooperation with companies to achieve that
and to strengthen their research work, FHs receive a big grant from the German government.

But the approximately 30 million which the FHs receive compare nothing with the 1.9 billion
Euros which the Unis receive from the government and from the Excellence Initiative. The
Excellence Initiative aims to get the Unis at the forefront of international research.
 Also, lecturers at Uni have more time for research and dedicate themselves more towards
developing a stronger theoretical base. Uni lecturers deliver about 9 hours of lectures per
week whereas FH lecturers might be doing 16-18 hours. Statistiks show that while FH
professors received about 23,000 Euros from third-parties for research, Uni professors had an
average of 260,000.

Would the FH like to be named differently now?

With the introduction of the new Bachelor-Master system, many FHs are trying to get rid of the
FH label and devise tricky names. FH Darmstadt, for example, uses “University of Applied
Sciences” or “Hochschule Darmstadt”. This trend started in 2005 in the state of Baden-
Württemberg when the new state university law dropped off the “Fach” from the titles of all
FHs making them Hochschules. FHs in other states found this so melodious that they also
started coming up with new names. In Bavaria, there are now more Hochschul-
Fachhochschules as compared to Fach-Fachhochschules. This was done, according to the
FHs, to emphasize the change in their traditional teaching style (with FHs offering more and
more subjects) but some view it as a marketing technique. The change in name doesn’t mean
that FH graduates will have unrestricted access to PhD studies and research continues to be
done mainly at Unis.

Unis, on the other hand, like to stay with their labels even though practical contents are being
integrated into new study programs.

4) What do employers want?

At the beginning of their studies, most prospective students ask this question that which
graduation will give them better job chances – FH or Uni. This is difficult to answer because
the preferences of employers are hard to generalize.

Whether a company prefers FH or Uni might depend on the field of work. Since not a long time
has passed after the introduction of the Bachelor-Master degree system, the employers also
need time to adjust and collect experiences. May be then one can recognize a trend in what
type of graduation is preferred in which area.

Officially, both degrees from Uni or FH are to be considered equivalent (not equal). Some
employers might prefer FH graduates because in their eyes, FH graduates bring more
practical experience and for companies with a short training period, they can start quickly. On
the other hand, Uni graduates are still generally considered more reputed. But for both types
of graduations, good grades are quite important because many employers set great value to
this. Other than that, social skills, strengths, motivation of the applicant and the “soft skills”
also play a great role. When in doubt, many employers consider this more than the difference
between FH and Uni.

5) Conclusion

It’s not always up to the individual to make the choice between Uni and FH. As can be seen
from the secondary school system of Germany, those with the brightest minds go on to obtain
the Abitur and they have the choice open to them to choose Uni or FH for Bachelors. Other
types of secondary school certificates may only allow entrance to some subjects at Uni or only
to FH or only to other kinds of Hochschules.
 After having done Bachelors from Pakistan and when applying for Masters, students have
both choices open but it can be clearly observed that only students with good grades can
make it to Uni. This is because they have stricter requirements for admission (reflecting the
secondary school requirements in Germany) whereas students can manage to get admission
in FH with lower grades also. Other factors affect the result of admission application of course.

You can take a look at one other document (Uni or FH Quiz) which asks questions about your
way of learning and doing things and might help you to make up your mind. My personal
recommendation is that if you have good grades and you want to do PhD or even just leave
that door open, choose Uni. Unis are actively involved in cutting edge research with lots of
funding. This also enables them to provide more HiWi positions which is an important
consideration for many students. The studies are generally harder and one has to manage
time effectively but in the end, one has more options open (also because of wider subject
selection options at Uni). FH studies might be focused on a particular profession and narrow
down your options afterwards. If you have a clear goal for your profession and not at all
interested in PhD, then you can join FH.

6) Sources

http://www.komm-mach-mint.de/MINT-Studium/FH-oder-Uni-Was-ist-besser

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/karriere/neue-namen-fuer-fachhochschulen-alles-unis-oder-was-
1.383219

http://www.wiwo.de/erfolg/campus-mba/fh-oder-universitaet-welche-hochschulform-passt-fuer-
wen/8056972.html

http://www.studentenpilot.de/studium/hochschulen/uni-oder-fh.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Germany

Author: Farish Huned Kagalwala