Fachhochschule

An increasing number of Fachhochschulen are abbreviated as Hochschule, the generic term in Germany for institutions awarding academic degrees in higher education, or expanded as Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften (HAW), the German translation of "universities of applied sciences", which were primarily designed with a focus on teaching professional skills.

Due to the Bologna process, universities and Fachhochschulen award legally equivalent bachelor's and master's degrees.

[2] Excepting research-intensive institutions in Hesse, Saxony Anhalt, Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria [3][4] Fachhochschulen do not award doctoral degrees themselves but sometimes in cooperation with award-granting partner universities.

[5] In the meantime, however, some professors at HAW also have additional habilitations and can therefore directly supervise doctoral students at their home university.

In line with the Bologna process, bachelor's and master's degrees awarded by both types of universities (Universitäten and Fachhochschulen) are legally equivalent.

Also, with the master's degree of either of the institutions a graduate can enter the höheren Dienst (higher service) career for civil servants.

[7] Subjects taught at Fachhochschulen include engineering, computer science, business and management, arts and design, communication studies, social service, and other professional fields.

The program concluded, usually after 3.5 – 4 years, with the final examination and a thesis (Diplomarbeit) which is usually an extensive project on a current practical or scientific aspect of the profession.

In the academic year of 2010/11, there were twenty-one institutions officially considered as Fachhochschulen plus a number of other providers of Fachhochschulstudiengängen with a total of over 27,000 students.

They are called Fachhochschule in German, Haute école specialisée in French and scuola universitaria professionale (SUP) in Italian.