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52/ 2011
Bonn, 06.12.2011
More and more companies offering places on dual courses of study
There has been a rapid increase in the number of companies acting in conjunction with an institute of higher education or University of Cooperative Education to offer places on dual courses of higher education study. A recent evaluation from the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) "Training Plus" database revealed that there has been a rise of around 46% in such company offers in 2011 compared to the previous year, bringing the total number to 40,000. This represents places on dual courses of study for over 61,000 students. The number of dual courses of study on offer also continues to grow. This year saw a rise of around 20% to 929 on the back of an increase of more than 12% in the previous year. BIBB President Friedrich Hubert Esser believes that this development provides impressive evidence of the extent to which trade and industry now perceive dual courses of study as an opportunity to train highly skilled workers to meet their own requirements. "The figures show just how much competition to secure the services of top talent has intensified. Companies that offer such attractive training courses have a significant edge."
Provision of dual courses of study exhibits different characteristics from region to region. Particular growth compared to the previous year was recorded in Bavaria (88% increase to 126 courses of study) and in Rhineland-Palatinate (92% increase to 23 courses of study). The federal states with the most dual courses of study are Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia, where the numbers of courses on offer are 236 and 198 respectively. Extensive provision is also available in the federal states of Saxony (77 courses), Hessen (70) and Lower Saxony (65).
Dual courses of higher education study combine practical company-based training and theoretical training at an institute of higher education, University of Applied Sciences or University of Cooperative Education. This means that those completing such courses may be able to obtain two qualifications - a vocational education and training qualification and an academic degree. Even if they do not acquire such dual certification, they will still have completed a particularly innovative, attractive and practically related form of study which offers them a plethora of benefits. These include direct transfer from theory to practice and support from employers, the latter often provided in the form of a training allowance or payment of higher education fees.
"Training Plus" is a BIBB project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The centrepiece of the project is a database which contains information on dual courses of higher education study and additional qualifications nationwide. This is available free of charge to young people and enables them to conduct a targeted search for appropriate provision. Providers - e.g. companies, institutes of higher education, Universities of Applied Sciences or Universities of Cooperative Education - are also permitted to publish their training and higher education study provision free of charge.
For further information, please see the (German language) BIBB Report "Training Plus in figures - Trends & Analyses 2011", which is available for download free of charge at www.ausbildungplus.de.
Points of contact
Jochen Goeser and Hedwig Brengmann-Domogalla, e-mail: kontakt@ausbildungplus.de
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