You have always known for sure that you want to work with and for people later in life. If that’s the case, then our degree programme in Social Services Management will enable you to fulfil your dream! Training as a social services manager will equip you with wide-ranging skills that are in greater demand than ever in the social sector. You will design concepts and plan social-sector measures and projects – and take the initial idea through to funding, implementation and evaluation. This might involve you in coordinating organisations, networking people, providing advice and scheduling activities, or working in regional projects or international organisations.
Our society needs the social sector industry! Children, adolescents, senior citizens, people with a migration background, refugees, people with disabilities or who are socially disadvantaged – in fact, all of us – benefit from the services provided by the social sector.
This degree programme in Social Services Management combines the fields of business administration, law and social work – especially networking and dovetailing all these disciplines. Throughout your studies, we support you in the form of small learning groups, excursions and intensive mentoring for internships and bachelor theses. In addition, you can expect practically relevant teamwork and learning, a friendly atmosphere and professors who know you by name.
At a glance
Award
Bachelor of Arts (B. A.)
Study mode
full-time
Standard duration
7 Semester
ECTS credits
210
Starts
winter semester
Restricted admission
no
Taught in
German
Faculty
Social and Health Studies
Study abroad
optional
Accreditation
AHPGS, German Accreditation Council
Details about this course
The foundation course (semesters 1 to 3) teaches the fundamental principles of business administration, law and social work, addressing the interfaces where human beings meet science.
The advanced course (semesters 4 to 7) is divided into three theoretical semesters and a practical one. In the fourth semester, you will focus on the various tasks involved in social work. Typical fields of expertise (e.g. international social sector, English for social scientists, punishment and liability, team-building) are interlinked with interdisciplinary topics (funding, communications, organisation, project management, quality development, human resource management).
During the practical semester (semester 5), you will link theoretical knowledge with practical experiences and conduct your own projects for the first time. Classes to support you will be held at the university.
The two final semesters of study reinforce applications and link your knowledge with your experience in projects and in the field. To channel your knowledge in the direction of your choice, you will select two subjects to major in, currently from:
- Participation and inclusion
- Biography and youth
- Personnel and management
- Social disparities.
To incorporate an element abroad, we offer you the chance to study relevant subject matter at a partner university.
To round off your degree, you then write your bachelor’s thesis. Upon successfully completing the programme, the university of applied sciences will award you the academic degree of Bachelor of Arts (B.A.).
The high demand for social services, the need for concepts in the social sector and the search for innovative and networked working methods in public administration and the social sector all call for multiple skills, which you will be taught on this degree programme in Social Services Management – so you can expect a wide range of diverse job opportunities after graduating. Coupled with relevant experience, this bachelor’s degree in Social Services Management also places you in good stead to assume extensive organisational responsibility.
As a social services manager, you might work, for example, for welfare associations, public employers, social insurance funds, employment agencies, foundations, start-ups, or in private-sector social enterprises.
You are likely to handle a wide range of tasks – anything from project management to human resources, controlling, marketing, leadership, quality management, networking, coordination, project development or dispensing advice.
Application process:
We have pooled all the information and details you might need about applying and the admission requirements .
About you:
Are you interested in legal, social and economic affairs? Are you open to new modes of thought and fields of work? Have you perhaps even already completed a voluntary internship in a social-sector facility? If so, you’re on the right track to study Social Services Management!
We ascribe to the values of openness, tolerance and acceptance. Our aim is to teach everyone involved at Kempten University of Applied Sciences about education in an international context. As part of this, we support university-wide, inter-faculty measures to promote international projects and cross-cultural interaction.
The degree programme in Social Services Management also offers a semester abroad as part of the advanced course. Equivalents to module sections 6 and 7 can generally be identified at foreign universities and counted as part of the programme. You can also spend your practical semester abroad with ease. The specialisation in “International Social Services Management” has been specifically designed as loosely and flexibly as possible to enable students to spend the sixth or seventh semester abroad, with the module elements even tailored to reflect the courses offered by foreign universities.
Are you interested in learning more about our international aspirations and the options for you to study abroad? Take a look at the information posted in our portal.
- Module Handbook – Social Services Management ( 2 MB / pdf)
We compile all study programme and examination regulations centrally for you. There you will find all versions and changes. continue
Programme with extended practice
Would you like to combine study and practice? With pleasure! The Kempten University of Applied Sciences offers you the following opportunity to study with more practice:
Studies with in-depth practice – practical and flexible!
In the study programme with in-depth practice, a regular Bachelor's programme at the university is combined with intensive practical phases at a practice partner, based on the study content. Students can enter this study option up to the 4th semester.
You can find more information about the offers here.
Master's degree programmes
Graduates from this bachelor’s degree programme can go on to study on the following master’s degree programme at Kempten University of Applied Sciences:
Further details about the degree programme
Contacts
We know how exciting the prospect of going to university can be. So we want you to know whom you can get in touch with if you have any questions about studying with us.
Contact for prospective students
- University Student Advisory Service
For general questions about studying and applications, please contact the University Student Advisory Service.
- Advisor for this degree programme
If you are interested in this degree programme and would like to ask any questions, please contact should enter the programme advisor.
Contacts for existing students
If you have any questions about your studies, please contact your academic advisor.
FAQ
What are my chances of getting onto the programme if I apply?
Very good! At the moment, the number of places on this degree programme is not capped. This means that you will certainly be offered a place if you apply for one and are eligible to study at university (with a senior secondary school certificate, e.g. “Abitur” or subject-specific “Fachabitur”, or as a formally trained worker). Further information on Applications.
Are there special admission requirements, e.g. vocational training or practical experience?
No. You only require a school-leaving certificate demonstrating your eligibility for university. Click this link to check the Entry requirements.
I have already completed vocational training or relevant professional development / additional training. Can I get any of this counted towards the degree?
This depends entirely on the individual circumstances, which the university will need to consider. Skills acquired outside university might be recognisable if the subject matter, scope and level are deemed equivalent to modules on your intended degree programme. This is seldom the case, which is why recognition tends to be the exception.
If you are unsure about getting skills credited, you can ask the academic advisor for the degree programme in the first instance. After that, you would need to apply for credit points via Academic Registry. They can also provide you with the relevant form. Any skills acquired outside the university that are recognised will not be awarded a grade, as the different scales are not comparable.
I have already completed a degree programme, or started one. Can I get any of this counted towards the degree?
This depends entirely on the individual circumstances. As a general rule, we are obliged to count skills that you have acquired at a university, unless there is a considerable difference between the skills that you have acquired and those attached to the target module in our degree programme. So you must check precisely which of the modules that you have previously completed match those in our degree programme.
If you are unsure about getting skills credited, you can ask the academic advisor for the degree programme in the first instance. After that, you would need to apply for credit points via Academic Registry. They can also provide you with the relevant form.
Is it possible to study this degree programme part-time as a professional, part-time per se, or remotely?
In principle, it is up to you how you spend your time outside classes, so working on the side is an option. However, it currently isn’t possible to study Social Services Management part-time, i.e. taking fewer classes per semester for a longer duration. Nor is this degree programme offered as a professional part-time programme, i.e. there are no evening classes or study blocks to fit around working commitments. Remote studies are also not possible. You can only study this degree programme full-time on site.
What is the timetable like? When are lectures held?
This varies from one semester to the next (in the same way as school timetables). The schedule for modules and classes is set one to two months in advance of each semester, and you can inspect it once you are accepted and have enrolled on the degree programme. As this is a full-time degree programme, you must reckon with classes being scheduled for each day of the week, even if there is sometimes one day without. In rare cases, there might be a block of classes on a weekend (freeing up more time during the week as a result).
Is attending classes obligatory?
No, but we strictly recommend it. For one, teaching – and thus learning successfully – thrives on direct exchange amongst students and between students and lecturers. Plus experience has shown at least a loose correlation between attendance and achieving good results. In other words, the students who fail exams or scrape through with weak grades tend to be those s<who rarely attended the related classes.</p>
What are the semester dates, and do students have any commitments during vacation time?
The semester dates are shown in the university calendar. Dates. You can use the vacation time between semesters for further study, if required, but as a rule there really aren’t any commitments during those times.
Are lectures also presented in English? If so, how many – and do I also have to take exams in English?
This degree programme is taught in German. In some cases, a course might also be offered in English, in which case this would also apply to the exam. But this really shouldn’t cause you to worry, as this really happens very rarely – so far mainly as an elective option – and the English that you learned in school, even it was a long time ago, is entirely sufficient.
What does the course cost?
There are no tuition fees for this degree programme. The only expenses will be the usual costs associated with studying, such as the semester fee any a very small amount of photocopying, buying books, etc. There might also be (similarly low) costs for field trips, which are heavily subsidised by the university.
Will I be entitled to classify myself professionally as a “state-certified social educationalist” after successfully completing this degree programme?
You will be studying Social Services Management then earn a B.A. as a Social Services Manager, so no. The fields of work for which the degree programme in Social Services Management qualifies you don’t require that state certification, anyway.
