Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Admission Requirements

Please note, that there are multiple criteria in the eligibility check. An educated statement on your eligibility can only be made after you have submitted your complete application including all necessary application documents (e.g. transcript of records, degree certificate). Usually KLU does not offer any pre-checks.

Yes, you can apply at KLU before receiving your bachelor’s degree. While applying you can simply say you still haven’t completed your degree and upload the transcripts of record that you have at the time. The Office of Admissions will note it automatically while evaluating your application. In case of admission, you will be admitted conditionally until you submit your final transcript of records and degree certificate.

A complete application consists of your Bachelor’s degree including official transcripts of records, and your statement of purpose. In case your documents are in a language other than English or German, please send us officially translated versions of your documents (certified translations), either in English or in German, together with your original documents.

In addition to the above mentioned documents, applicants with a degree from India, China or Vietnam have to submit an APS certificate with their application.

Please send us officially translated versions of your documents, either in English or in German, together with the original documents.

A certified translation has to be accomplished by a ‘sworn translator’. It is certified by the translator or the translation company and accompanied by a signed statement confirming that the translation is accurate and complete to the best of the translator's knowledge and ability. For the admissions process at KLU, either a translation into English or German is required. Usually <link www.gov.uk _blank external-link-new-window "Opens internal link in current window">British</link> and local German Embassies provide a list of translation services on their website. Please refer to the respective Embassy in your country for further information.

Applicants who completed a degree in India, Vietnam or China must submit an APS certificate with their application to study at KLU. It is also a prerequisite for the visa application.

For our Master’s degree programs we require a degree in business or economics, but will consider other fields such as industrial or mechanical engineering, business informatics, and mathematics if your Bachelor's degree contains a sufficient number of courses in business (at least four).

The following courses could be recognized as necessary business courses: 

  • Microeconomics
  • Macroeconomics
  • Operations Research
  • Econometrics
  • Accounting
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Business Strategy
  • Marketing (Management)
  • Management (International, Operations, Strategic)
  • Human Resource Management
  • Supply Chain Management and similar

Please note, the following courses are NOT considered as business courses, but only as quantitative courses:

  • Mathematics
  • Statistics
  • Quantitative Methods / Techniques

You can  do so called MOOCs (massive open online courses) on online learning platforms (e.g. edX, coursera etc). Please find the list of courses that can be recognized as the necessary business courses here.

When choosing your course(s), please keep in mind that the course content of the chosen course must not be identical to a course you have already been credited with! E.g. if you have studied “Marketing” in your Bachelor’s degree at university, you cannot choose “Marketing Management” from the list.

Please note that in either case these courses

  • have to be conducted by a recognized university;
  • you have to prove your successful participation by a certificate.

For our Master’s degree programs, a high performance in so called quantitative courses plays a very important role. For example, the following courses could be recognized as quantitative courses:

  • Mathematics
  • Microeconomics
  • Finance
  • Analytics
  • Statistics
  • Operations Research
  • Quantitative Methods / Techniques
  • Econometrics
  • Numerical Methods
  • Volkswirtschaftslehre

No. For the MSc programs (not MBA) professional / work experience is not an admission requirement, but is definitely beneficial for the classroom and for the evaluation of your application. We require a degree in Business Administration or Economics for our MSc programs, but we will consider other degrees if you have completed a sufficient number of courses in business (at least four). Please note that professional / work experience cannot substitute missing academic business courses.

In order to qualify for the fast track Master program, your previous Bachelor’s degree must comprise of at least 210 ECTS points (German standard). In addition, you must have either studied outside of Germany for at least one semester in your Bachelor’s degree or you must have done an internship abroad, which was officially part of your Bachelor's degree program. Foreign university degrees will be evaluated according to the guidelines of the German Council of Higher Education.

We encourage all students to participate in the study abroad program. Students are able to stay in Hamburg for their third semester if they completed their entire Bachelor’s degree outside of Germany or spent a semester abroad during their Bachelor’s degree.

No, once the study program has started, it is not possible to change tracks anymore. Therefore, please check carefully with the Recruitment and Admissions Office which of the tracks (there are several on offer) you qualify for and is most suitable for you.

Study Abroad

  • No, the goal of the semester abroad is to gain international experience, therefore going to your home country does not build your international portfolio. 
  • If certain criteria are fulfilled, students will be allowed to study in their home country. Please consult the International Office.

Yes, we have over 60 partnerships around the world. For more information regarding our partnerships, check out our International Office page. *Please note that the partner and places available are subject to change.

No, if you would like, you can take part in your semester abroad as a ‘Free Mover’. When considering a free mover exchange it is crucial that students make sure that the academic content and quality at the exchange destination corresponds with that of KLU. As a general rule, free movers of KLU should be enrolled as non-degree students at the host university. For more information on study abroad and free movers click here.

Yes, courses from the study abroad period can be recognized and should belong to the fields of Management, Logistics, Economics and Leadership Skills. For more information, please go here, and look under course selection.

The places are allocated by the International Office, taking into account the average grade as well as a motivation letter, explaining the reasons of choosing this particular partner. 

Yes, KLU takes part in the ERASMUS+ program which enables us to support students going to another ERASMUS+ university with a small monthly sum for their study abroad period. More information can be found on our website. Please note that not all of our European partners are ERASMUS+ partners. 

In order to qualify for the fast track Master program, your previous Bachelor’s degree must comprise of at least 210 ECTS points (German standard). In addition, you must have either studied outside of Germany for at least one semester in your Bachelor’s degree or you must have done an internship abroad, which was officially part of your Bachelor's degree program.

We encourage all students to participate in the study abroad program. Students are able to stay in Hamburg for their third semester if they have completed their entire Bachelor’s degree or spent a semester abroad during their Bachelor’s degree outside of Germany.

Internship

Yes, internships are a mandatory component for our programs, and although you may have other work experience, you will still need to complete an internship.

At KLU, our Career Services are able to assist you in finding an internship. They provide resume support, mock interviews, and general guidance for the application process. For more information on the Career Services for KLU Students click here.

Students have freedom when it comes to their internship, if they would like to stay in Germany they can, if they would like to return to their home country they can, and if they would like to go somewhere new, they can. 

Language Requirements

Yes, you can still apply without an English language proficiency test. If you are admitted, your admission will be conditional until you can prove sufficient English proficiency. Ideally, you should submit a test score report by August 31. If it’s impossible to submit it before the semester starts, the final deadline to hand it in is January 15 (i.e., the end of the first semester at KLU). Note: Until then, your enrolment will remain conditional.

There are several ways to prove your English language proficiency.
Please note, proof of English proficiency can be submitted by August 31. Do not wait to apply until you receive your test scores. We recommend that you apply early and submit them later.

  • TOEFL (iBT: 90)*
  • TOEFL "MyBest Scores" (iBT: 90) 
  • TOEFL “Special Home Edition” (iBT: 90)
  • IELTS Academic (band 6.5)*
  • IELTS Online Academic Test (band 6.5)*
  • CAE (grade C) / CPE (180 points)*
  • FCE Cambridge English (grade A)*
  • Pearson PTE Academic (also online version) (score 61)*
  • High School degree with curriculum language English
  • Bachelor's degree in an English-speaking curriculum
  • Native speaker status for applicants from Canada (excluding Québec), the UK, Ireland, Australia, the US, or New Zealand, whose native language is English.

In case of admission, please note that you will need an official score report (hardcopy) for the enrolment. Therefore, please name KLU if possible when registering for a test (TOEFL institutional code is 7373).

*Test score reports should not be older than two years at the time of application.

All students are required to provide proof of sufficient English language proficiency. However, there are multiple ways to meet this requirement. You can demonstrate your proficiency through the following options:

  • TOEFL (iBT: 90)*
  • TOEFL "MyBest Scores" (iBT: 90) 
  • TOEFL “Special Home Edition” (iBT: 90)
  • IELTS Academic (band 6.5)*
  • IELTS Online Academic Test (band 6.5)*
  • CAE (grade C) / CPE (180 points)*
  • FCE Cambridge English (grade A)*
  • Pearson PTE Academic (also online version) (score 61)*
  • High School degree with curriculum language English
  • High School degree (German Abitur) with an average grade of at least 10 points in the last two years of high school (a total of seven years of English lessons must be proven)
  • Bachelor's degree in an English-speaking curriculum
  • Native speaker status for applicants from Canada (excluding Québec), the UK, Ireland, Australia, the US, or New Zealand, whose native language is English.

No, if you have a Bachelor's degree from a program with an English-speaking curriculum, you do not need to take a language test.

No German language skills are required as all our master study programs are taught entirely in English.