Founded in 2006, the University of Applied Labour Studies UALS (Hochschule der Bundesagentur für Arbeit - HdBA) is publicly recognized and accredited by the German Council of Science Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat). Each year, around 500 students at the two university sites in Mannheim and Schwerin are qualified in dual bachelor programs to become guidance experts for education, career, employment, and labor market management.
The three-year degree program is comprised of nine four-month trimesters rather than semesters. What is unique about the HBA: The course is a work-and-study program (dual studies) in which theoretical education alternates with experimental phases. The students spend five trimesters at the university in Mannheim or Schwerin. They do four internships in an Employment Agency, Jobcentre, company, chamber, or abroad during that time. Thus, the practical part is given much more weight than in many other universities, allowing the students to gain experiences in real working life early on.
Guidance and labor market experts trained by the UALS have to possess specific professional, methodical, social, and personal skills. This is why the curriculum includes a well-balanced combination of subjects from economic, social, educational, and legal sciences complemented by expertise in labor market policy, labor market-related services, and guidance – precisely the kind of skills needed by professionals for the Federal Employment Agency.
Besides teaching, the professors also spend time doing applied research and development in guidance, placement, and integration and organize further scientific training courses for the BA's staff. Although the UALS is supported and financed solely by the Federal Employment Agency, it acts independently in all academic aspects. As a result, all skills taught here can also be applied outside of the BA, e.g., in the field of public management or HR service providers.
Not only does the UALS have an excellent student-faculty ratio, but it also gives students of the bachelor courses a financial advantage over their fellow students at other universities, one that is especially important for young people at the beginning of their careers: They receive attractive remuneration already during their studies which allows them to concentrate on their courses fully. Once graduated, they can launch their career. The master's program is designed for the Federal Employment Agency employees who want to obtain further scientific qualification while continuing to work.
Being close to the labor market is what many young people have when they start to study. The students want to feel that they chose a seminal subject that opens up a variety of perspectives and allows them to start a job immediately after graduating. The courses should have as much practical relevance as possible, be challenged intellectually, varied, with intensive support from teachers and the right studying conditions.
The University of Applied Labour Studies (UALS) is capable of meeting all these expectations. It offers a highly practice-oriented, interdisciplinary, and professionally attractive course of studies and guarantees excellent job prospects.
Nowhere else are students as close to the labor market as here: The UALS is the Federal Employment Agency's (BA) pool for recruiting young talents. Synonymous with competent career guidance, placement, and employment promotion, the BA is also one of Germany's most prominent employers with some 90,000 employees, a fact that is frequently overlooked.
To qualify skilled personnel for assuming the varied tasks involved in implementing the general labor market policies, the University of Applied Labour Studies (UALS) needs a course offer that combines specific economic, social, and legal sciences. What is more, the University of Applied Labour Studies (UALS) offers a unique curriculum with its focus on guidance sciences.
Although the training at the UALS is primarily geared to the BA's unique requirements, the students are also qualified for tasks outside of the BA that overlap with the BA's range of services, e.g., in the field of public management or HR service providers.
