Hochschule Karlsruhe – Technik und Wirtschaft

2011 WirtschaftsWoche ranking: Another 1st place for HsKA

Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences again obtains best results among universities of applied sciences in current university ranking of the WirtschaftsWoche magazine: it was rated number 1 four times by Germany’s personnel managers.

For this year’s university ranking of the “WirtschaftsWoche” business magazine (issue 16 of 18 April 2011), the consulting company Universum Communications and the temporary employment agency access Kelly OCG have again conducted a survey, asking personnel managers in Germany of all lines of business from which universities they recruited their management trainees and future specialists and which ones prepared the students best for their future jobs. The survey clearly and deliberately focuses on the practical relevance of university training.

516 personnel managers, two thirds of which represent enterprises with over 1,000 employees, took part in the largest survey of its kind, which concentrated on industry-oriented degree programmes – Business Administration, Economics and Law, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Business Information Systems, and Natural Sciences.

For the Business Administration and Engineering, Computer Science, Business Information Systems, and Electrical Engineering programmes, the personnel managers rated Karlsruhe University Germany’s best university of applied sciences when it comes to preparing the students for their future job – so that’s four times number one in this year’s university ranking. For the Mechanical Engineering programme, Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences was rated number four. Thus, with four first places and one fourth place in the major engineering, computer science, and business programmes, HsKA is rated Germany’s most successful university of applied sciences in this ranking – for the fifth time in a row.

“High-quality university programmes combined with a strong focus on practical content are essential for industry and business,” says Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Meisel, President of Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences. He is pleased about the university’s excellent results achieved in the latest ranking: “The response from personnel managers of German companies regarding the graduates from our university has been so positive that we’re in Germany’s top group for numerous disciplines, and this speaks for the quality of our university programmes. Moreover, this clearly shows our students and applicants how much industry and business are interested in recruiting them after graduation.”

In February 2010, researchers of the University Information System (HIS) in Hanover asked nearly 30,000 secondary school students that were about to graduate about their study opportunities. The survey showed that many of them were uninformed: only one out of four students knew about the study opportunities available. Every third student felt insufficiently informed and 40% even stated that they were overwhelmed by the many options they had.

It is thus essential that students thoroughly inform and orientate themselves at an early stage before deciding on a degree programme that is likely to pave the way for their entire future career. When informing themselves, many students also look at the university ranking results. In summer semester 2010, nearly 40% of the “freshmen students” said that the results obtained in the university ranking were crucial in their decision to study at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences.

How worthwhile a successful university graduation can be is reflected in another current survey of the WirtschaftsWoche, asking personnel managers about the occupational outlook of university graduates: whereas in 2010 only 39% believed the outlook was good, this year that number has increased to 85%!

2010 WirtschaftsWoche ranking

HsKA is rated number 1 among universities of applied sciences in 2010 university ranking of the WirtschaftsWoche magazine

For this year’s university ranking of the “WirtschaftsWoche” business magazine (issue 21 of 22 May 2010), the consulting company Universum Communications and the temporary employment agency Access have again conducted a survey asking personnel managers of all lines of business from which universities they recruited their management trainees and future specialists and which ones prepared the students best for their future jobs. 534 personnel managers, two thirds of which represent enterprises with over 1,000 employees, filled in a comprehensive form. The survey was focussed on industry-oriented degree programmes – Business Administration, Economics and Law, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Business Information Systems and Natural Sciences.

For the degree programmes Computer Science, Business Information Systems and Industrial Engineering, the personnel managers rated Karlsruhe University Germany’s best university of applied sciences when it comes to preparing the students for their future job – so that’s three times number one in this year’s university ranking. For the programmes Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences was rated number two. Thus, for these five engineering, computer science and economics programmes, it counts among the two best universities of applied sciences – and is Germany’s most successful one in this ranking.

“High-quality university programmes combined with a strong focus on practical content are essential for industry and business,” says Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Meisel, President of Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences. He is pleased about the university’s excellent results achieved in the latest ranking: “The response from personnel managers of German companies regarding the graduates from our university has been so positive that we’re in Germany’s top group for numerous disciplines, and this speaks for the quality of our university programmes. We are particularly proud of the fact that the outstanding results of recent years have even been exceeded while improving our competitive edge. Moreover, this clearly shows our students and applicants how much industry and business are interested in recruiting them after graduation.”

(25 May, 2010)

2010 trendence ranking of IT graduates

The trendence Institut in Berlin conducted a Germany-wide survey of 6,852 IT students who were about to graduate.

Among German higher education institutions and universities of applied sciences, Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences HsKA was ranked in the following issues:

• Career service: first/first
• Practical orientation of the curriculum: first/first
• Cooperation with industry: first/first
• Quality of teaching: first/first
• Mentoring by professors and lecturers: second/first
• Pastoral care: position 7/position 5
• Quality and updating of the library: position 9/position 4
• Service: position 6/position 3

(August 2010)

2009 ECTS label

As the first German university ever, Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences is awarded the European Commission’s ECTS label

The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) is an instrument to facilitate the recognition of qualifications and improve student mobility across national boundaries.

Higher education institutions implementing this instrument in an exemplary way were invited to apply for the ECTS label as a quality seal. “Today’s Label holders“, said Ján Figel’, EU Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, during the ceremony in Brussels on June, 11, “are outstanding examples of institutions that are serious about European academic mobility in a rapidly changing higher education sector.“

Of the 63 European higher education institutions that applied, 23 were awarded the ECTS Label of the European Commission this year. Amongst the successful institutions was Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, making it the only higher education institution in Germany to receive this quality seal so far.

To achieve this, Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences was required to publish, on the web, its comprehensive course catalogue in English, including detailed descriptions of study programs, course units, university regulations and student services, all of which is thus easily accessible to international students and partner institutions. Course descriptions also include learning outcomes, i.e. a description of what graduates are expected to know, understand and be able to do. In addition, the student workload is given, expressed in terms of credits. The credits are based on a workload of 1,500 to 1,800 hours for an academic year, with a credit point corresponding to 25 to 30 hours of work.

The following criteria essential to awarding the ECTS Label had to be met:

• Is all the information relevant to foreign students made available in English by the university?
• Are the individual files of incoming and outgoing students complete and do they correspond to ECTS standards?

“We were very pleased”, said the university’s President, Prof. Dr. Karl-Heinz Meisel, “to receive this award, as it reflects our efforts and activities to promote international student exchange. Since it is a central strategic aim of our university to expand our international study programs we are going to use the ECTS Label as a means to further promote this and communicate the quality assured so far to the students as an additional incentive to go abroad for part of their studies.“

(press release dated 18 June, 2009)

2009 trendence ranking of IT graduates

The trendence Institut in Berlin conducted a Germany-wide survey of 5,227 IT students who were about to graduate (5th semester or higher).

Among German higher education institutions and universities of applied sciences, Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences HsKA was ranked in the following issues:

• Practical orientation of the curriculum: second/first
• Cooperation with industry: second/first
• Quality of teaching: position 4/position 2
• Mentoring by professors and lecturers: position 5/third
• International focus of the studies: position 6/third
• Career service: position 6/position 4
• Service: position 6/position 5
• Quality of student life: position 8/position 4

(September 2009)

2009 WirtschaftsWoche, Handelsblatt

For a ranking published by three prestigious business magazines, WirtschaftsWoche (issue 18, 27.04.2009), Handelsblatt, and Junge Karriere, 5,000 personnel managers of Germany’s biggest companies were asked from which universities they had recruited their specialists and future executive staff and which institutions had prepared their graduates best for their careers in industry.

In the area of Business Administration and Engineering, HsKA was ranked top out of all German universities of applied sciences. For Computer Science, HsKA ties for first place together with Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. For Electrical Engineering and Business Information Systems, HsKA came second, and for Mechanical Engineering, third. With places in the top three for five engineering, IT, and business disciplines, HsKA was ranked as Germany’s best university of applied sciences. HsKA has thus successfully re-confirmed its claim to the top position of recent years.

(April 2009)

2008 WirtschaftsWoche, Handelsblatt, Junge Karriere

For a ranking published by three prestigious business magazines, WirtschaftsWoche, Handelsblatt, and Junge Karriere, 5,000 personnel managers of Germany’s biggest companies were asked from which universities they had recruited their specialists and future executive staff and which institutions had prepared their graduates best for their careers in industry.

In the area of Business Administration and Engineering, HsKA was ranked top out of all German universities of applied sciences. For Electrical Engineering, for Mechanical Engineering, and for Business Information Systems, HsKA came second, and for Computer Science, third. With places in the top three for five engineering, IT, and business disciplines, HsKA was ranked as Germany’s best university of applied sciences.

(June 2008)

2008 trendence ranking

In a nation-wide comparative study of 63 German universities, 6,300 future IT graduates were questioned: In the overall ranking, HsKA placed in the top two IT colleges. Its practical orientation received particular praise from the students: HsKA came in 1st place nationwide in terms of practical orientation of the curriculum and cooperation with industry. In quality of teaching as well as mentoring by lecturers and professors, it received 1st place among universities of applied sciences and 3rd place for all universities. Outstanding in the eyes of IT students was also the international focus of their studies: Here HsKA again seized 1st place for universities of applied sciences and came in 2nd place for all colleges.

(September 2008)

2006 Karriere (Handelsblatt) ranking

This national ranking by the career and business magazine, Karriere, published by the Handelsblatt group, was based on a survey amongst more than 50,000 students and graduates as well as personnel managers of 1,000 big companies. For the first time in Germany quality criteria such as length of study, teacher-student ratio and international orientation were taken into account. Both in the areas of Computer Science and Engineering HsKA was ranked third amongst all universities of applied sciences. In the opinion of the personnel mana­gers, HsKA came second in Com­puter Science and first in Engineering.

(June 2006)

2006 CHE ranking

Which university gets you into shape for your job? According to CHE and the Personnel Marketing working group, composed of personnel managers of 34 major German companies, about 20% of all bachelor degree programmes in Business Administration fail to prepare their graduates adequately for the job market. Twelve out of 100 universities that were evaluated, however, were judged to have taken exemplary measures in that respect. HsKA’s International Management degree program was the only one to achieve very good marks in three of the four areas under scrutiny, and was therefore ranked first in the view of the professionals who conducted this evaluation.

(March 2006)