What are modules and credits?

Since the so-called Bologna Reform and the related change of the degree programmes to Bachelor's and Master's programmes, the programmes of the Faculty of Business and Economics have been completely modularized and the scope of academic performance to be rendered is measured in so-called ECTS points (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System). ECTS points are also known as credits, grades, credit point or study points. The ECTS ensures that course work and degrees are internationally comparable and that performance that was achieved during a semester at universities abroad can be more readily accepted at the home university.

Students take a certain number of modules each semester. A module at the Faculty of Business and Economics is usually a lecture or a seminar.
Lectures are held in lecture halls. The professor stands at the front and covers a specific topic while the students take notes. At the end of the semester, they write an exam. In very large classes - particularly compulsory courses - up to several hundred students attend a lecture. In addition, there are usually one or two additional training events in which the contents of the lecture are repeated as examples.

In seminars, the groups are much smaller. Alone or in small groups, students prepare reports (at home) on a given subject and then present their results to the group in the seminar. Seminars also provide space for discussion. The course work is graded through a written paper as well as by preparing a presentation for the oral presentation on the same subject.

The examinations are performed while studying, i.e at the end of each semester. If the examinations (test or paper) are successfully completed, students receive a grade for them in addition to a certain number of credits. They specify the weight that the grade of the individual performance will have in the final grade of Bachelor's degree. At the Faculty of Business and Economics, each module is usually worth 6 credits. The Bachelor's thesis is assessed with 12 credits, so it has a higher proportion in the overall grade for the programme. Usually 30 credits should be earned each semester. The six-semester Bachelor’s degree programmes of the Faculty are accordingly successfully completed if a total of 180 credits have been collected. For the four-semester Master's programmes, a total of 120 credits must be earned.

In addition, the credits describe the assumed total amount of work students need to invest in order to complete the respective examination. In addition to the presence time (attendance in the lecture/ seminar) the preparation required before and after each lecture (self-study outside the lecture or seminar) is also calculated. According to the ECTS credit system, 1 credit corresponds to about 25-30 hours of work, so studying is a "full-time job".