Bachelor’s Degree Program in Business Administration pdf

Contents
I.

School of Business and Economics

2

II.

Bachelor’s Degree Program
in Business Administration

W
elcome
Why a bachelor’s degree?

4

III.





General information
1. Admissions
2. Start of studies
3. Changing study locations
4. The academic degree

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IV. A bachelor’s degree – and then what? Prospects for graduates

1. Master’s degree programs

2. What about an academic career?

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V.





Concept behind the bachelor’s degree program in Business Administration
1. General program objectives
2. The Division of Business Administration at Freie Universität Berlin
3. What sets us apart – ten arguments in favor of a bachelor’s degree program

in Business Administration at Freie Universität Berlin

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VI.




Structure and organization of the bachelor’s degree program in Business
Administration
1. Business Administration: the core subject (Kernfach)
2. General Professional Preparation courses (GPP)

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VII. The module concept

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VIII. Credits, tests, and assignments

1. Credits – the “currency” of your studies

2. Your bonus point account – no overdrafts allowed!

3. Bachelor’s degree examination

4. Bachelor’s thesis

5. Registering for and withdrawing from modules, tests, and courses (time limits


and details)

6. Credit for prior studies, courses, and exams

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IX. Getting started at the School of Business and Economics

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X.

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Important addresses for information

XI. Publisher’s legal statement

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Study placements in the bachelor’s degree program in Business Administration at
Freie Universität Berlin are highly desirable: In the 2010/2011 academic year, for example, more than 3,600 secondary school graduates applied for the approximately 195
placements available. There are currently 2,061 students within the School of Business
and Economics, all of whom have decided to enroll in studies at our business school
and have chosen Freie Universität as the right place for them to study. They include
1,136 students in the bachelor’s degree program in Business Administration, 618 in the
bachelor’s degree program in Economics, and 307 in the consecutive master’s degree
programs offered in the fields of Economics and Business Administration.

Dr. Ronnie Schöb, Prof.

Dr. Thomas Mellewigt, Prof.

I. Welcome

This brochure is designed to provide you with information on our bachelor’s degree
program in Business Administration – and to assist you in organizing your studies.
Our goal is to ensure excellence in our teaching and research activities and thereby
provide you with the skills you need for the global labor market. Once you have successfully completed your studies of business within our department, you will have a
broad range of career prospects within your reach thanks to the professional and social
skills you have gained in the program.
If you have questions after reading this brochure, please feel free to contact us! We
look forward to assisting you during your studies. A warm welcome to you from the
entire School of Business and Economics at Freie Universität Berlin.

Dear Prospective Student:
Are you interested in studying Business Administration at Freie Universität Berlin – or
perhaps you have already decided to begin a program within our school? Congratulations on making an excellent choice!

Dr. Ronnie Schöb, Professor
Dean









Dr. Thomas Mellewigt, Professor
Program Coordinator

When you choose to study here, you choose to study Business Administration at a
performance-oriented, highly dynamic business school. Plus, you will be completing
your program at Freie Universität, one of Germany’s top-performing universities. The
School of Business and Economics is distinguished by its broad spectrum of teaching
and research activities, its international character, and its interdisciplinary focus. Cooperation with other departments at Freie Universität and institutions from within academia, the business sector, and the wider society will give you the opportunity to join
a broad network even before you have finished your studies. We also offer a range of
courses in English, to further add to our profile. The fact that Business Administration
consistently ranks at or near the top in nationwide higher education rankings means
two things to us: first, it affirms the excellence of our educational concept, and second,
it motivates us to continue in the same vein.
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II. Why a bachelor’s degree?
The Ministers of Culture of the European Union met in Bologna, Italy, in 1999 and
agreed to harmonize higher education programs in Europe by the year 2010. This
process, dubbed the “Bologna process,” has four main goals:




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to introduce an academic system of transparent degrees and diplomas that are
comparable all over Europe. This is intended to ensure that students have the
right qualifications for the labor market.






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to establish a two-stage system of degrees and diplomas (bachelor’s degree
programs lasting three to four years followed by master’s degree programs
lasting one to two years), with the first degree earned (the bachelor’s degree)
already qualifying graduates to enter a profession.

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to bundle academic content together into thematically related units
(modules), test students on these modules while they are completing
their programs, and give credits valid throughout Europe for these
studies. This is intended to support students in traveling to other
countries in Europe to study and facilitate exchange between universities
within Europe. The overall objective is to support mobility and flexibility
among students.




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to assure the quality of higher education and promote cooperation at the
European level in terms of quality assurance.

The bachelor’s degree program in Business Administration at the School of Business
and Economics
In the course of the Bologna process, we, like many other institutions, have reformed
the structure of our academic programs. The earlier Diplom programs in Business Administration and Economics, each of which typically took eight semesters to complete,
have now been replaced by programs leading to the bachelor’s degree, which at Freie
Universität typically take six semesters to complete, and those culminating in the
master’s degree, which generally lasts four semesters.

chelor of Science (B.Sc.). This degree is the first level that qualifies a graduate to enter
a profession. What that means is that after completing the bachelor’s degree program
in our school, you can apply for professional positions (for more information, please
see section V, “A bachelor’s degree – and then what? Prospects for graduates”). You can
also continue your studies by applying for admission to a master’s degree program at
Freie Universität Berlin or another higher education institution. Our school offers two
different master’s degree programs in Business Administration, both of which qualify graduates for leadership positions in the business sector, administration, or public
service. A master’s degree is also required if you plan to pursue an academic career. In
that case, the master’s degree is followed by a doctorate (for more information, please
see section V, “A bachelor’s degree – and then what? Prospects for graduates”).

Students completing the undergraduate program in Business Administration at the
School of Business and Economics of Freie Universität Berlin earn the degree of Ba4

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III. General information

1. Admissions
The bachelor’s degree program in Business Administration is “impacted,” or subject
to restrictions on admissions. The number of study placements that can be awarded
is recalculated each year. Placements in programs in business and economics at Freie
Universität are highly desirable: For every placement in the first semester of the Business Administration program starting in the winter semester of 2010/2011, for example, we had 19 candidates apply, putting our school once again at the very top in terms
of the number of applications. Allocation of study placements is subject to a local limit (the Orts-Numerus Clausus); placements are not awarded centrally, by a body responsible for the entire country (such as the ZVS), but rather locally, by Freie Universität itself. The selection process focuses primarily on the grades on a student’s
transcript. Wait times are also considered. There are also special rules that apply to certain groups (international prospective students, those applying for a second academic program, special hardship cases). For more information on applying, please visit
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enrolled in other departments. In the past, however, demand for study
placements in higher subject-specific semesters has typically exceeded the
number of available placements.

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Besides availability of study placements, the studies that the student has
completed thus far must be equivalent to the studies required in the
bachelor’s degree program in Business Administration at the School of
Business and Economics of Freie Universität Berlin. The examinations
office (Prüfungsbüro) of our school is responsible for determining
whether the student’s studies are equivalent. This takes place after you are
granted conditional admission to the appropriate subject-specific
semester by the Admissions Office of Freie Universität Berlin. You need at
least 24 equivalent ECTS credits for each subject-specific semester for which
you wish to have credit applied toward the program (for more information,
please see section X, “Important addresses for information”).

4. The academic degree

2. Start of studies

This program culminates in the academic degree of Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.), which
– more than other degrees – reflects the outstanding academic foundation upon which
the programs in Business Administration offered at Freie Universität Berlin are based.

A bachelor’s degree program can only be started in the winter semester, which begins as
of October 1 of each year. The school works with current students to organize an orientation week (Orientationswoche) for all new students at the start of each winter semester (for
more information, please see section IX, “Getting started at the School of Business and
Economics”).

IV. A bachelor’s degree – and then what?

3. Changing study locations
Many students who are already enrolled in an undergraduate program in business
administration at a different business school wish to transfer to the bachelor’s degree
program in Business Administration at Freie Universität. This kind of transfer is permitted under certain conditions:



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As a basic principle, there must be study placements available in higher
subject-specific semesters (Fachsemester). This is the case, for instance, when
students from our school have transferred programs and are now

Prospects for graduates
Once you have completed the bachelor’s degree program in Business Administration

at our department, you are qualified to take on management, planning, analytical, and
consulting positions in enterprises of all sizes. Other career options open to graduates
include working within non-profit organizations, in public service and international organizations, professional associations and federations, trade unions, and research and
educational institutions.
It is up to you to determine which direction you take, by choosing your personal areas of concentration and emphasis. One advantage of the bachelor’s degree program in
Business Administration at the School of Business and Economics of Freie Universität Berlin is that you are not required to make this decision about specialization – which
may have far-reaching consequences – right at the start of the program. The program is
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designed to let you concentrate on a few areas of emphasis (such as management, marketing, business information technology, or accounting and taxation) later on, or to pursue a “generalist” program. Since our school is relatively large, it offers you the chance
to select from a very broad range of courses and areas of focus.

1. Master’s degree programs
Once you have earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at Freie Universität
Berlin, you are eligible for admission to various subsequent academic programs all over
the world. Within our own school, we offer the following academic master’s degree programs in the field of Business Administration, open to candidates who hold a Bachelor
of Science degree in Business Administration:
1. Master of Science in Management & Marketing
2. Master of Science in Finance, Accounting, Taxation & Supplements (FACTS)
A master’s degree program typically lasts four semesters. These programs are primarily
research-oriented and lead to the degree of Master of Science (M.Sc.). The subject-specific concentrations of the programs offered at Freie Universität are a special feature
within the German higher education landscape.
The business specialists within the school are also involved in another graduate program: the master’s degree program in Gender & Diversity, which is offered in cooperation with the Departments of Political Science and Law.
In addition to the abovementioned consecutive master’s degree programs, the School
of Business and Economics also offers a continuing education program for working
professionals: the Executive Master of Business Marketing program. This program is
tuition-based and requires at least three years of professional experience. The Executive Master program includes both modern marketing and sales skills and fundamentals of controlling, strategy, and management. For further information, please visit the
website />
earn a doctorate can also do so while working as researchers or external doctoral candidates at a specific chair affiliated with a university.

Within the School of Business and Economics, students who hold a Master
of Science can apply for a fellowship and admission to the DFG research training group “Research on Organizational Paths” (the Pfadkolleg). Participation in the Pfadkolleg is accompanied by a study program, and participants generally earn the doctorate within three years. For further information, please visit
/>
V. Concept behind the bachelor’s degree program in Business
Administration (B.Sc. program)
1. General program objectives
The bachelor’s degree program in Business Administration within our school offers a
solid education in Business Administration and an initial degree that qualifies graduates to enter a profession, all generally within just six semesters. It includes:













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the knowledge and skills needed to work and think academically
extensive methodological skills
familiarity with essential concepts in business administration and the ability
to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each and apply them in practice
the ability to identify, formulate, and communicate problems related to
business administration and bring about resolutions
basic knowledge of aspects of law and regulations that are important from a
business standpoint
key qualifications, such as foreign language skills, presentation skills, and
moderation abilities or teamwork experience
advanced knowledge that qualifies the student to enter a profession in the
chosen area of specialization

2. What about an academic career?
Graduates of Master of Science programs at Freie Universität Berlin not only possess excellent professional qualifications, they are also eligible to apply to doctoral programs at universities in Germany and abroad.
In general, a doctoral program is hosted by a graduate school. Students wishing to
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2. The Division of Business Administration at Freie Universität Berlin
Devision within the School of Business and Economics encompasses the following:

• Department of Finance, Accounting & Taxation
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nagement (such as alliance and network management) and marketing (such as business-to-business marketing).

b) Finance, Accounting, Taxation & Supplements (FACTS)
The FACTS concentration encompasses various areas of focus: finance, managerial
accounting, business taxation, business law, and tax advising. Many career opportunities are open to students who have chosen to concentrate in the field of FACTS,
ranging from positions in investment banking to auditing and tax advising, or working for the tax department of large corporations. The hallmarks of this field are its
orientation toward financial calculations (balance sheet, cash flow statement, etc.)
and exploration of commercial, corporate, accounting, and tax law.
c) Production & Information Systems
The research performed in this field focuses on modeling and improving business
processes and on designing and implementing systems to support decision making with the same goals in mind. Specific areas of focus:





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Department of Management
Marketing Department
Department of Information Systems

Areas of emphasis in research and teaching activities in Business Administration at
the School of Business and Economics of Freie Universität Berlin
a) Management & Marketing
Management and Marketing is one of the traditional areas of emphasis in the research
and teaching activities at the School of Business and Economics of Freie Universität
Berlin. This area currently encompasses fifteen professorships – more than at any other
German university. Key management textbooks have been written here, and leading
management and marketing research journals are published by professors within the

department. The DFG research training group “Research on Organizational Paths” (the
Pfadkolleg) receives particular support from scholars in this field. One special feature of
the concentration in Management & Marketing is the in-depth treatment given, in both
research and teaching, to issues that transcend individual enterprises in terms of ma10











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Systems to support decision-making: enterprises have to cope with complex
decisions involving a large number of marginal factors, in terms of both
strategy and tactical planning. Decision makers are supported by IT
applications that are often based on mathematical models and include
optimization, simulation, and data mining as possible methods.

Web-based systems: another area of focus is Web-based, cloud-based
application systems and the economic impact of using these systems. Work
in this area focuses on Semantic Web technologies and analyzing the
potential applications of Web 2.0 and beyond.

As a student in this concentration, you will gain an overview of the use of state-of-theart information technologies in business applications. You will learn how to analyze
user requirements for an IT user system and translate them into a set of requirements
specifications. These specifications are then used by a team to develop a draft system
that can be transformed within a development environment to yield a software system.

3. What sets us apart – ten arguments in favor of a bachelor’s degree program in
Business Administration at Freie Universität Berlin
1. High Academic Standards.
When you enroll in the bachelor’s degree program in Business Administration within
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our school, we guarantee you a university education known for its rigorous academic
standards – standards we embrace in everything we do. We expect our students to demonstrate commitment and enthusiasm, academic curiosity, and a desire to perform
as they study within the program, and it is our goal to ensure that you benefit from the
broad spectrum of academic opportunities offered within our school.
2. Strong Research Activities.
Unlike a university of applied sciences (Fachhochschule), a traditional university is distinguished by the interconnectedness of its research and teaching activities. At a traditional university, it is easier and faster to communicate recent research findings within
teaching activities, since the researchers themselves are also the ones doing the teaching. As a result, universities are primarily measured by their research performance.
Freie Universität has a long tradition of international research. In terms of external
funding for research, the School of Business and Economics includes a high percentage of projects that receive financial support from the German Research Foundation
(DFG), Germany’s best-known research sponsor.
3. Strong Partners: Cooperative Arrangements Between The School Of Business And Economics And Other Institutions And Department At Ffreie Universität Berlin As Well As Research Institutions Not Affiliated With The University.
Cooperative arrangements with the Economics departments of the John F. Kennedy
Institute for North American Studies, the Institute for Latin American Studies and the

Institute for East European Studies, along with the Departments of Law and Earth Sciences, which hold regular events within our school, ensure that a broad, interdisciplinary range of topics is offered. Cooperative relations are maintained with research institutions not affiliated with the university, such as the Social Science Research Center
Berlin (WZB), and various Max Planck and Leibniz Institutes.
4. Freie Universität Berlin Is One Of Germany‘s Largest Universities.
When you study at our school, the broad range of disciplines represented at Freie Universität Berlin offers you outstanding opportunities for insight into other disciplines
related to business and economics: political science and law, sociology and philosophy,
history and computer science, education and psychology are just some of the areas you
may encounter as you pursue your studies of business administration here. The School
of Business and Economics at Freie Universität Berlin comprises a comparatively large
number of academic chairs and institutes. As a student, this gives you the opportunity
to select from a wide range of academic options within the fields of business administration and economics and combine various subjects.
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5. International. Right From The Start.
Over the past several decades, the School of Business and Economics at Freie Universität has established a close-knit network that includes international enterprises and organizations in the business sector, politics, academia, and the wider society. Scholars and
researchers from prestigious universities in Germany and abroad visit our school to give
talks, teach seminars, or work as visiting lecturers or professors. Research centers such as
the research training group “Research on Organizational Paths” (the Pfadkolleg), which is
funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and hosted by the Division of Business Administration, have developed into discussion forums within the international research scene thanks to their interdisciplinary, international approach.
6. Rankings.
The Division of Business Administration at Freie Universität is one of the top-performing schools of economics and business at any German university. It regularly appears
at or near the top in various rankings.
7. The Libraries At Freie Universität Berlin.
With a media collection encompassing about 8.5 million volumes (2.2 million of them
at the university library) and 20,000 current periodicals, the library system of Freie Universität Berlin is the largest of any university in Germany. The library at the School of
Business and Economics, which is part of the system, houses about 600,000 volumes,
making it the largest business and economics library in Berlin. Alongside a collection
of textbooks, the library offers online access to the most important business and economics databases and periodicals. Our students make heavy use of various features,
including materials set aside by instructors for specific courses, work stations for students working on theses and dissertations, various classes, and the library information
service.
8. WiWiss Alumni. The Network Of Alumni Of The School Of Business And Economics At Freie Universität Berlin.

WiWiss Alumni is the section of the Ernst Reuter Association (ERG) where graduates of
our school gather – an outstanding list of contacts for our students.
9. The Parklike Dahlem Campus. A Relaxed Environment For Successful Studies.
The School of Business and Economics of Freie Universität is located on the
university’s spacious campus in the Dahlem district, a tree-lined neighborhood of villas
and open space in the southwest of Berlin. The business and economics buildings are
clustered around an expansive lawn area, right next door to the Department of Law,
the university library, and the Henry Ford Building, where the Auditorium Maximum
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VI. Structure and organization of the bachelor’s degree
program in Business Administration
The bachelor’s degree program in Business Administration is taught in German!
The program can be divided into two segments:
1. the core subject (Kernfach) of Business Administration (150 ECTS)
2. general professional preparation (GPP) (Allgemeine Berufsvorbereitung, ABV) courses
(30 ECTS)

1. Business Administration: the core subject (Kernfach)
Required modules in the basic portion of the program

is located. The Thielplatz U-Bahn station (line 3) is located within walking distance and
connects Dahlem to Kurfürstendamm in 19 minutes.
10. The Capital City Factor.
As Germany’s capital city and a major center of international academia, Berlin offers
students a wealth of potential employers and internship opportunities. Representatives
from politics, the business sector, academia, associations, and foundations from Germany and abroad come together in Berlin to share information and ideas, which makes Berlin an outstanding environment for students to network and make connections.

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a) Focus Area In General Business Administration:
This focus area consists of eight required modules. In these eight modules, you will
learn the fundamentals of business administration in the areas we believe are important for every graduate of a business administration program to master. These include
the fundamentals of business administration, along with external and internal enterprise accounting, annual financial statements and taxation, investment and financing,
management, marketing, and supply & operations management.
b) Focus Area In Quantitative Fundamentals Of Business Administration:
This focus area encompasses three required modules, which provide students with
the necessary knowledge of mathematics and statistics for business professionals
and critically important fundamentals of business information technology.
c) Focus Area In Fundamentals Of Economics:
In addition to introducing students to general economics, this area also includes an introduction to the fundamentals of microeconomics and macroeconomics as a required
module.

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d) Focus Area In Law For Business Students:
This focus area includes the modules in public and private law.
Specialization through choices of advanced focus areas
Aside from the required modules, students in the third semester and above focus on
acquiring advanced knowledge in specific areas of business administration and economics. You choose your individual areas of focus for your study program according to
your own interests, inclinations, and skills – and thereby set the direction for your later
career opportunities. You can choose from among the following advanced focus areas:

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Strategy and cooperation
Organization and personnel
Marketing
Financing
Information systems
Enterprise accounting
Tax studies for business students
Economic theory
Economic policy and financial studies
Statistics

Econometrics
Business law and tax advising

Students are also offered a range of research seminars in the fields of management,
marketing, FACTS, and information systems.

2. General Professional Preparation (GPP) courses
To enhance the career opportunities available to university graduates, Freie Universität Berlin introduced its general professional preparation (Allgemeine Berufsvorbereitung, ABV) courses, which are required in all bachelor’s degree programs. These
courses help to ensure that students’ studies have a practical focus and give students
both interdisciplinary and subject-related additional skills and abilities, which are becoming increasingly important to their future professional success, particularly in the
light of the increasingly international nature of the labor markets. Students enrolled in
the bachelor’s degree program in Business Administration are required to earn a to16

tal of 30 ECTS in this area, in courses focusing in particular on key skills such as scientific methodology, skills at using state-of-the-art information technologies, abilities in
the area of modern accounting and taxation software such as DATEV, presentation and
moderation skills, foreign languages, and gender and diversity awareness skills. The
general professional preparation courses also require an internship. Students who have
completed a formal vocational training course in a commercial profession can apply to
be exempted from the internship requirement.

This chart shows the individual subject involved:
Sem.

Bachelor of Science Program in Business Administration

6 (SS)

Advanced
focus area 3

5 (FS)
4 (SS)

Bachelor’s thesis

Advanced
focus area 2
Advanced
focus area 1

3 (FS)

General career preparation
(languages, user software,
presentation techniques, etc.)
Advanced
focus
area 4

Economics: Intro to
Macroeconomics
Economics: Intro to
Microeconomics

Management

Operations
and Supply
Management

Business Information Technology

Intro to
Economics

2 (SS)

Fundamentals of
Internal Enterprise
Accounting

Investment and
Financing

Annual Financial
Statements and Taxation

Statistics for Business and Economics Students

Private Law

1 (FS)

Fundamentals of
External Enterprise
Accounting

Fundamentals of
Business Administration

Fundamentals of
Marketing

Mathematics for
Business and Economics Students

Public Law

FS = Fall semester (classes in session October–February) SS = Spring semester (classes in session April–July)

For further information on the structure of the bachelor’s degree program in Business
Administration, please also read the following:
1. Study Regulations (Studienordnung)
2. Examination Regulations (Prüfungsordnung)
You can find both sets of regulations (in German only) at: -berlin.
de/studium-lehre/bachelor/studien-pruefungsordnungen/index.html

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As a basic principle, a module is concluded with an exam. A module exam
(Modulprüfung) may also be composed of multiple sections (such as a written paper,
presentation, or written exam).

Types of instruction and courses
Modules typically consist of a combination of multiple courses with related content in
various formats:

VII. The module concept
One of the main goals of the Bologna process is to compare the content of different

academic programs and the academic achievements required of students throughout
Europe, thereby establishing an appropriate method for assessing these factors. With
this in mind, the university has developed a module concept that lends all of our academic programs, including the program in Business Administration, a clear and easily understood structure. Modules are thematically and methodologically self-contained
instructional and learning units, which typically consist of several courses with related content. This means that you might attend a lecture first, for instance, in which a
certain thematic area is discussed in detail. The lecture is supplemented by accompanying courses such as tutorials (Übungen) in which the subject matter of the lecture is
applied or practiced using case studies. You receive credits (Leistungspunkte, or LP, elsewhere also called “credit points,” or CP), for each module you pass. How many credits
are awarded for a specific module is determined by the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). This is another essential step aimed at harmonizing the academic programs available all over Europe (please see section VII (1), “Credits – the ‘currency’ of
your studies”).
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Lecture (Vorlesung) – This type of course provides an overview and imparts
subject-specific knowledge and methodological skills, typically with an
instructor lecturing in front of a hall full of students.
Tutorial (Übung) – These courses explain and further explore the subject
of the lecture through discussions and group work.
Project group (Projektgruppe) – In these classes, students examine practical or
academic problems in business administration by applying academic
findings and methods.
Seminar – This kind of class gives students an opportunity to deepen and
apply the knowledge gained in a lecture through independent academic
work in small groups, with a high level of interaction between the instructor
and participants.
e-learning unit – Electronic tools can help you acquire knowledge of various
topical areas within the field of business administration.

The module manual (Modulhandbuch)
For an overview of the required and elective modules offered within the bachelor’s degree
program in Business Administration, please see the Study Regulations (Studienordnung,
pp. 7 – 48) at www.fu-berlin.de/service/zuvdocs/amtsblatt/2006/ab792006.pdf or visit
www.wiwiss.fu-berlin.de/studium-lehre/bachelor/studien-pruefungsordnungen/index.html

(both sites available only in German). As you read through these materials, please note
the changes in the module descriptions that have occurred as a result of subsequent regulations; we recommend that you read the “reading versions” (Lesefassungen) of the
study and examination regulations, which are regularly updated by the university to reflect any changes that have been made.

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VIII. Credits, tests, and assignments
This section provides important information on the structure of the bachelor’s degree
program in Business Administration in terms of evaluations and examinations. The
parts of this section that address the examination regulations (Prüfungsordnung) are
meant to provide a rough overview only; for the full examination regulations, please
see www.fu-berlin.de/service/zuvdocs/amtsblatt/2006/ab792006.pdf (in German only).
Please take the time to read through the examination regulations carefully when starting your program in business administration within our school. And one more important note: The examination regulations are subject to change from time to time. For
changes affecting published study and examination regulations, please see www.wiwiss.
fu-berlin.de/studium-lehre/bachelor/bwl/studien-pruefungsordnungen/index.html.

1. Credits – the “currency” of your studies
The courses offered as part of the program entail different time commitments on the
part of students. The time required for each course is measured in credits (please also
see section VII, “The module concept”). One credit is equivalent to about 30 hours of
work on the student’s part, meaning both the time spent actually attending classes at
the university and on self-study (preparing and following up on materials, studying for
tests and exams, etc.). On average, students are required to complete 30 credits per semester; the full bachelor’s degree program in Business Administration requires 180
credits, 30 of which are taken in general career preparation courses.
Example: Students are required to take the module “Fundamentals of External Corporate Accounting” (Grundlagen externer Unternehmensrechnung) in their first semester.
The core component of this module is a lecture, which runs for 90 minutes per week
during the period when classes are in session (= 2 credits) and requires a written final
exam. Participants should also attend one of the discussion sections offered for this
course, which also run for 90 minutes per week (= 2 credits). Added to that figure is the

time students spend individually preparing and following up on materials and studying for the final exam. Six credits are awarded for the module in total. The grade on
the final exam is weighted according to the number of credits and counted toward the
bachelor’s degree exam grade.
The bachelor’s degree program in Business Administration is an academically challenging full-time program and requires that students spend at least 40 hours in class, studying, and working on assignments every week.

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2. Your bonus point account – no overdrafts allowed!
Successful completion of the program requires that you pass tests and exams. As an
incentive for students who earn good grades and make rapid progress in their programs, we use a flexible, modern bonus point account, which comes with a “cushion” for unsuccessful attempts at the start of your program. What does that mean?
When you are granted a study placement in the bachelor’s degree program in Business Administration within the school, you start your first subject-specific semester
with 60 bonus points. (If you start at a higher subject-specific semester, for instance because you have transferred from another location, the initial bonus point total is prorated accordingly.) For every module exam on which you earn the grade of “Insufficient” (nicht ausreichend – initial attempt and repeat attempts), the number of credits
applicable to that module is deducted from your bonus points. If your bonus point account falls below half (30 points), you are required to attend an academic advising session. This step is intended to help you clarify the reasons behind your failed attempts.
If your bonus point account falls to a negative value, you will be removed from the register, meaning that you will not complete the program or earn the degree. (The only
exception is that if your bonus point account falls to a negative number based on your
first attempt to take a module exam, you are permitted to take that exam one more
time.) If this happens, you will also lose your eligibility to enroll in a program in Business Administration at another German higher education institution.
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5. Registering for and withdrawing from modules, tests, and courses
(time limits and details)

3. Bachelor’s degree examination
To complete the bachelor’s degree program, you are required to take courses adding up to a total of 180 credits (Leistungspunkte, LP), broken down as follows:

1.








2.


150 credits in the core subject, Business Administration
(Betriebswirtschaftslehre, BWL)
a) a) Focus area in General Business Administration
b) Focus area in Quantitative Fundamentals of Business

Administration




c) Focus area in Fundamentals of Economics
d) Focus area in Law for Business Students

e) Advanced focus area in Business and Economics
f ) Bachelor’s thesis






48 LP







18 LP
18 LP
12 LP
42 LP
12 LP

For the current registration and withdrawal time limits for modules and exams, please
see the schools’ website and click on “Studying and Teaching” and then “Undergraduate
Programs (Bachelor)” (in German).
www.fu-berlin.de/campusmanagement/N3InfoStudenten/index.html
Repeating module exams
If you pass an exam, you are not permitted to repeat that exam. The balance in your
bonus point account limits the number of times you can retake any exams you do not
pass on the first attempt.

Exam dates

30 credits in general professional preparation
(Allgemeine Berufsvorbereitung, ABV) courses
a) Internship module, optional
5 LP, 10 LP oder 15 LP
b) Modules from at least two of the six ABV skill

areas (see section VI (2)), together totaling
15, 20 oder 25 LP.

A module exam can consist of a single final exam or several sections. The sections
may involve different types of exams (such as a written exam, paper, oral exam, or
project participation). For information on the types of exams for each module and
the details of those exams, please see the module descriptions in the study regulations (Studienordnung).

Required courses are offered once a year, or every two semesters. You do, however,
have the option to take a module exam even during semesters when these courses are
not offered. If the module exam is offered without the corresponding module during a
specific semester, the module exam serves as a repeat session. That means that in order to take the repeat exam, you are required to have failed the exam on your first attempt or to have had another reason, such as illness, that prevented you from taking
the first exam. Written exams (Klausur type) are held during the first few weeks after
the end of the period when classes are in session (about mid-July or mid-February, depending on the semester).
6. Credit for prior studies, courses, and exams

4. Bachelor’s thesis
The aim of the bachelor’s degree thesis is to show that you are able to treat a topic
from the field of business using academic methods, with guidance, within a specified
time limit and to present and document the results appropriately in written form. The
bachelor’s degree thesis typically encompasses not more than 30 pages.
The amount of work necessary to write a bachelor’s degree thesis in the program in Business Administration at Freie Universität Berlin is equivalent to 12 credits. This means that

you should plan on working full time on the bachelor’s degree thesis for nine weeks.

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If you would like to transfer from another university to the bachelor’s degree program
in Business Administration at Freie Universität Berlin and have been granted a study placement within our department, you can apply to have prior studies, courses, and
exams completed in the same academic program at your former higher education institution credited toward your program at Freie Universität Berlin. To be given credit for prior academic activities, those activities must be equivalent to the courses and
exams required in the bachelor’s degree program in Business Administration at Freie
Universität Berlin. “Equivalent” means that the time spent studying, coursework, and
exams must largely correspond to those offered in the program at our school in terms
of their content, scope, and requirements.
Prior studies, courses, and exams completed in other academic programs or at non23


IX. Getting started at the School of Business and Economics
If you have received a study placement within the bachelor’s degree program in Business Administration, your first task is to enroll at Freie Universität. Once you do so, you
will officially be a freshman (Erstsemester) – welcome to the student body of our school!
The central enrollment celebration and bachelor’s program introductory event for all
newly registered students within a certain class at Freie Universität Berlin is held in
October of each year.
The school works with students in more advanced semesters to organize a weeklong
orientation program for all freshmen within the School of Business and Economics at
the start of each winter semester. This orientation week is always held one week before
classes begin, meaning in the first or second week of October. Over the course of the
week, we invite students who are new to our school and Freie Universität to take a look
around, get their bearings, and obtain all of the important information you will need
during the first few weeks of your program.

Orientation week details:

academic higher education institutions within the area of application of the Framework Act on Higher Education (Hochschulrahmengesetz) are also eligible for credit toward the bachelor’s degree program in Business Administration at Freie Universität
Berlin upon request, provided that you are able to prove equivalency.
If you wish to earn credit toward the bachelor’s degree program in Business Administration at Freie Universität Berlin for studies, courses, and exams completed at higher education institutions abroad, the equivalency agreements approved by the German
Conference of Ministers of Culture (Kultusministerkonferenz) and the German Rectors’
Conference (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz) and agreements in the context of university
partnerships must be observed.
The parties responsible for reviewing equivalency and granting credit for prior studies
are the program coordinator and examination office of the School of Business and
Economics at Freie Universität.

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Day 1
The orientation week starts out with an introductory event at which the dean of the
school or your program coordinator welcomes you to the program and the university.
Then all first-semester students are assigned to “mentor groups” (Mentorengruppe). The
mentors are 2nd or 3rd year students at the School of Business and Economics who
will work with you and accompany you during this first week to help you get off to a
good start in your studies. These mentors will probably be your first points of contact,
and they are an excellent source of information. Don’t hesitate to take the opportunity
to ask your mentor whatever you want to know about studying and the program!
After the group eats lunch together, the “math prep course” (Brückenkurs Mathematik)
is held. Participation is voluntary. In general, any student who successfully took mathematics as a main subject (Leistungskurs) on the Abitur examination will not need to take
the prep course.
Day 2
Libraries: With a media collection encompassing about 8.5 million volumes (2.2 million
of them at the extensive university library) and 20,000 current periodicals, the library

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system of Freie Universität Berlin is the largest of any university in Germany. Alongside
the extensive university library (the Universitätsbibliothek, or UB) – which, incidentally,
is conveniently located in one of the neighboring buildings on campus – each department has its own library with specialized literature. We take you on a tour of the library
of the School of Business and Economics, which houses about 600,000 volumes, making it the largest business and economics library in Berlin. Library staff explain how
our library works: How to find a specific book, what a non-circulating reference library (Präsenzbibliothek) is, what interlibrary lending (Fernleihe) and OPAC mean, and everything else you need to know. To ensure that the library tours can take place in small
groups, we offer them daily during the introductory week. Regular tours of the School
of Business and Economics library are also offered later in the semester.
After the library tour, students attend an event to introduce them to the bachelor’s degree program in Business Administration. At this event, you will see your program coordinator, who is already a familiar face from the event on the first day. Then you will
meet up with your mentor group again – since we are sure you will have new questions
to ask by that point. Your mentor will be happy to help you. The voluntary math prep
course continues on the second afternoon as well.

The benefits you personally can expect from Campus Management will be discussed
during the introductory event for the orientation week.
The math prep course finishes in the afternoon of day 4.
Day 5
After the library tours and the math prep course, a special academic advising session
is held for international students.
This event marks the close of the orientation week – and the start of your bachelor’s
degree program! We hope that by the time your orientation is complete, you will feel
well equipped to tackle your studies and find your way around. If you still have questions, feel free to talk to your fellow students, those in higher semesters, your instructors, and staff at the school – we will all be more than happy to help!

Day 3
The agenda for the third day is much like the second; the introductory event for the
bachelor’s degree program in Economics is held after the library tour. Mentor groups
and the math prep course meet in the afternoon.
Day 4
On day 4, as on the previous days, library tours are offered between 9 and 10 a.m. Then
the “Introduction to Campus Management” course is held. Campus Management is

an IT service system that is unique to Freie Universität so far, so we should briefly explain: Campus Management is an SAP-supported service and communications technology that is used in connection with the Bologna process. Freie Universität is the first
university in Germany to utilize Campus Management to meet the goals of the Bologna process (namely, to reform the structures of academic programs and administration
systems and harmonize them throughout Europe). Its participation in this pilot project
means that Freie Universität Berlin is a pioneer in this regard at the European level as
well. The Campus Management IT system simplifies a number of bureaucratic processes
for you as a student: Students use the system to register for modules and exams, for example, and it also offers access to your personal credit point account anytime. You can
use Campus Management to access your schedule, have certificates printed regarding
your exams, or get an overview of the modules for which you are registered. To enable
these functions, you should request a ZEDAT e-mail account right away after enrolling.
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X. Important addresses for information
1. Website of the School of Business and Economics at Freie Universität Berlin:
/>2. Website of Freie Universität Berlin:
/>3. Current information on scheduled events:
/>4. Information days for prospective students:
/>5. Study and examination regulations for the bachelor’s degree program in Business Administration (in German):
www.fu-berlin.de/service/zuvdocs/amtsblatt/2006/ab792006.pdf
6. Information flyer on subject-specific semester (Fachsemester) placement and credit
for exams (in German):
/>04_Downloads/Informationsblatt_Fachsemestereinstufung_und_Anerkennung.pdf
7. Study abroad
Undergraduate students who are interested in study abroad opportunities should contact
the International Students Office of Freie Universität and/or the ERASMUS
representative or their department representative in charge of direct exchanges
with universities in North America as soon as possible after beginning their studies:
/>

International Students Office
Brümmerstr. 52, 14195 Berlin
Tel. +49 (0)30 838 73900, +49 (0)30 838 73930

9. Links and articles on bachelor’s degrees and the labor market
www.aiesec.de
www.bdvb.de
www.eco5.com
www.econdoc.de
www.jungekarriere.com
www.wisu.de
10. Student initiatives
• Fachschaftsinitiative (FSI):

www.fsi-wiwiss.de.vu
• WiWiss Alumni – Alumni network for the School of Business and Economics

(www.wiwiss.fu-berlin.de/alumni/index.html)
• Kritische WirtschaftswissenschaftlerInnen:

www.kritische-wirtschaftswissenschaften.de
• DEFO – Demokratisches Forum e.V.:

web.fu-berlin.de/defo
• AIESEC (biggest international students’ organization):

www.aiesec.de

BaFöG student aid may be available for study abroad even if the student was not eligible
for aid to study in Germany (www.das-neue-bafoeg.de/gesetze_merk06.php).

For more information on study programs and internships abroad, please see the section
of the Student Handbook (Studienhandbuch) of Freie Universität on those topics.
For specific information on international internships, you can also visit the site of the
CareerService of Freie Universität Berlin at
/>
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Disclaimer
The information provided in this publication is intended to provide a general overview.
The statements made herein are not intended to be legally binding or replace applicable rules or regulations. In particular, changes in academic programs are still possible
at the time at which examination and study regulations are enacted. Only the regulations as adopted are legally binding.

Publisher’s legal statement
Freie Universität Berlin
School of Business and Economics
Garystraße 21
14195 Berlin
Tel.: +49 (0)30 838 524 71
Fax: +49 (0)30 838-521 29
www.wiwiss.fu-berlin.de

Dean: Dr. Ronnie Schöb, Professor
Editorial desk: Dr. Rudi Bresser, Professor; Dipl.-Kffr. Adeline Thomas;
Dr. Jochen Hundsdoerfer, Professor
Photos: David Ausserhofer
DTP & layout: Freie Universität Berlin, Center for Digital Systems (CeDiS)
June 2007, revised January 2011

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