Presse-

							                                                        HAUSANSCHRIFT   Hannoversche Straße 28-30, 10115 Berlin



Presse-
                                                        POSTANSCHRIFT   11055 Berlin

                                                                  TEL   030 / 18 57-50 50
                                                                  FAX   030 / 18 57-55 51

            mitteilung                                         E-MAIL
                                                            HOMEPAGE
                                                                        presse@bmbf.bund.de
                                                                        www.bmbf.de



                                                                        30 September 2010




30 September 2010
62/2010

Bachelor's graduates are doing better that initially thought
Low unemployment, high mobility. Schavan: "That takes the wind out of
the notorious critics of the Bologna Reforms."
Berlin, 30 September 2010. Graduates holding a Bachelor's degree are in better shape
than the numerous alarming reports on the new academic degrees would have had us
expect. This is the result of a study carried out by the Internationales Zentrum für
Hochschulforschung (INCHER - Kassel) with funding provided by the Federal Ministry
of Education and Research (BMBF). The study was presented on Thursday at a two-
day conference in Berlin on the mobility and career starts of graduates holding a
Bachelor's degree.


INCHER analysed the surveys of 50 universities for the study. 70,000 graduates from
the examination age cohorts 2007 and 2008 had been interviewed on their current
situation around one and a half years after they had graduated. According to the
results, the number of unemployed among the Bachelor's graduates was just as low as
it was for graduates from the old degree courses.


Some 78% of the Bachelor's graduating from German universities continued to study
after graduating, namely with 90% continuing in Master's degree programmes. Of the
gradates coming from universities of applied sciences, 43% had taken up postgraduate
studies. Almost half of these had graduates from a Master's programme while
simultaneously continuing parallel to this in their professional career.
SEITE 2   Nor was the fear that students might, after the academic reforms, no longer be able to
          afford to complete a semester abroad due to a lack of time, confirmed. On the contrary:
          more than a quarter (27%) of all Bachelor's and Master's students spent some time
          studying abroad. This amounts to a 50% increase in contrast to the "old" degree
          courses, from where not even one-in-five graduates (19%) had spent part of their time
          studying abroad.


          "With this survey, the notorious critics of the Bologna Reforms have had the wind taken
          from out of their sails," said Federal Education Minister Annette Schavan. "One of the
          goals of the Bologna Process is that at least 20% of the students have to have
          completed a semester abroad by 2020 or an internship in another country. We have
          already achieved this goal ten years ahead of schedule."


          Speaking from the perspective of the President of the German Rectors' Conference
          (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz (HRK), Margret Wintermantel, said that the study
          confirms that the universities have successfully implemented the academic reforms.
          Given the results of the study, she called for the students' trust in the Bachelor's degree
          to be increased. "The young people have to be encouraged to plan their education and
          career biographies in accordance with their interests and inclinations, as well as their
          personal aptitude and abilities. The Bachelor provides a solid foundation for this”,
          emphasised Wintermantel.


          Contact:
          Press office BMBF 030 1857 5050 katharina.koufen@bmbf.bund.de
          Press office HRK Susanne Schilden 0228 887 152/153 presse@hrk.de