Table of Contents
In today’s data-driven world, the demand for skilled professionals in the field of data is rapidly increasing across industries. To ensure their competitiveness and adaptability, it is essential for countries like Germany to embrace this trend and invest in study programs focused on data science, data analytics, data management or related data-driven study programs.
Germany, known for its strong industrial base, must evolve to meet the demands of the digital age. It is time to harness the power of data and equip the German labor market with the necessary skills for a prosperous future. So, what is the current situation regarding data science at German Higher Education Institutes (HEIs)? Here are some facts and at the end you will find an Interactive Map of Germany and a searchable Data Study Program Catalogue for Germany. The following facts base on all 423 German HEI listed in the Higher Education Compass 2022 (German: “Hochschulkompass“).
In an increasingly complex business environment, informed decision-making is critical. Industries are hungry for young professionals who can extract actionable insights from vast amounts of data. According to an own review of the listed German HEIs in June 2022, 89 HEIs (21%) currently offer a total of 128 data study programs.
The review explicitly excludes general computer science or business informatics/ information management programs. Some of these programs may include individual data courses, but the intent here is to look at data study programs, not just individual courses. The below word cloud shows terms included in the names of the study programs (asteriks indicate wildcards, e.g., Comput* for Computer, Computing, and Computational and Mathematic* for Mathematics and Mathematical, font sizes indicate frequency). The terms Data, Science and Analytics are used singly or together in 109 of all program descriptions (81%). The related term pair Data Science is used in 84 program descriptions (62%), while the related term pair Data Analytics (6%) is less frequently used. The term analytics alone (3%) is used very rarely, while the term pair business analytics (10%) is used more frequently. Terms from economics such as business management, controlling, or consulting are occasionally used within the names of data study programs.
Data Study Programs
Job Profiles
Data stewards, data engineers, data analysts, and data scientists represent typical job profiles sought by aspiring data professionals. These roles offer diverse opportunities for individuals entering the data science field, each requiring a unique combination of skills and expertise. Data students often find these positions aligning with their career aspirations, providing avenues to apply their knowledge in real-world scenarios and contribute to the ever-evolving landscape of data-driven decision-making.
Necessary Job Skills
Professionals in the data field, including data stewards, engineers, analysts, and scientists, share essential skills for effective data management and analysis. To build the theoretical knowledge for this practical skills, data study programs aim to teach related capabilities:
| Required Job Skills | Teached Capabilities | |
|---|---|---|
| A | Economic and industry-specific domain knowledge | Business economics and consulting |
| B | Problem-solving and analytical thinking | Research expertise and analytical competences |
| C | Knowledge to extract (E), transform (T), and load (L) data: ETL/ELT | Database management and data processing including handling of Big Data |
| D | Data visualization techniques and use of tools like SAP Analytics Cloud, Microsoft Power BI, Tableau (by Snowflake), etc. | Understanding Business Intelligence, innovation, technologies, applications and tools |
| E | Programming and scripting in SQL, Python or R | Programming, (data) mining, and (web) development techniques |
| F | Data analysis, such as exploration and statistical analysis | Mathematics, statistics, and econometrics |
| G | Collaboration, communication, and management | Working in teams, strategic/ project/ process management, and leadership |
| H | Data governance, ensuring quality, security, and compliance | Value of data, data protection methods, etc. |
While the above listed eight required core job skills constitute a shared foundation, their specific emphasis varies among roles, with data scientists focusing on advanced statistical and machine learning, engineers on infrastructure and processing, and analysts on comprehensive data analysis. An analysis of the courses that are offered reveals the focal topics across all the data study programs in a a descending order from the teached capability A. Business economics, consulting, and process management (18% of all offered courses) to H. Value of data, data protection methods etc. (5% of all offered courses).
Others encompass courses considering languages, legal, ethics, social or ecological teaching, etc.
Comparisons
HEI Type
The ratio of 50 Universities of Applied Sciences (German: “Hochschulen für angewandte Wissenschaften [HAWs]”) with data study programs (56%) is slightly higher than the 37 universities (42%) in comparison, although this ratio roughly corresponds to the distribution of university types in the population of all German universities and thus has no special feature. The other 2% of HEIs with data study programs are HEIs of their own type.
Degree Type
The data study programs consists of 43 bachelor’s (34%), 83 master’s (65%) and 2 MBA graduations (2%). Two things are striking here:
1. The ratio of 1:2 with significantly fewer undergraduate Bachelor’s programs compared to consecutive Master’s or MBA programs. However, it must be noted here that other more general undergraduate degree programs, such as business administration, computer science, etc., can also be sufficient for a consecutive master’s/MBA program in data studies, which explains the ratio.
2. HAWs offer proportionately more undergraduate bachelor’s degree programs than consecutive master’s or MBA degree programs compared to universities (HAWs: 39% bachelor’s and 61% master’s/MBA degree programs versus universities: 26% bachelor’s and 74% master’s/MBA degree programs). The reason for this may be that, in their self-image, HAWs pursue both basic education and specialization in a more balanced way, while universities tend to focus more on specialization, at least in this area.
Locations
Geographically, with the exception of the federal state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, there are HEIs offering the above-mentioned study programs in every federal state of Germany and in a breadth of 65 German cities. In the new federal states, 16 out of a total of 70 universities (23%) and in the old federal states 73 out of a total of 353 universities (21%) offer corresponding data study programs. The following interactive map show all the locations (please note that some of the HEIs offer distance/ remote learning, German: “Fernstudium”, or multiple study locations, even if these are only shown on the map with the university’s seat location):
It is gratifying to note that there is no discrepancy between the new and old federal states in Germany considering data study programs at German HEIs.
Catalogue
Use the search field above the table to search for a specific study program, degree, institution, city or state. You can also use the navigation arrows below the table to review the entries (all entries in in the German proper spelling). By clicking on the respective study program, the corresponding website for the study program of the respective HEI is opened in a new browser tap:
| Study Program | Degree | Institution | City | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business Analytics | Bachelor | Hochschule Aalen – Technik und Wirtschaft | Aalen | Baden-Württemberg |
| Data Science und Business Analytics | Master | Hochschule Aalen – Technik und Wirtschaft | Aalen | Baden-Württemberg |
| Datenmanagement in Produktentwicklung und Produktion | Master | Hochschule Aalen – Technik und Wirtschaft | Aalen | Baden-Württemberg |
| Machine Learning and Data Analytics | Master | Hochschule Aalen – Technik und Wirtschaft | Aalen | Baden-Württemberg |
| Data Engineering and Consulting | Master | Hochschule Albstadt-Sigmaringen | Sigmaringen | Baden-Württemberg |
| Data Science | Master | Hochschule Albstadt-Sigmaringen | Sigmaringen | Baden-Württemberg |
| Business and Security Analytics | Master | Hochschule Albstadt-Sigmaringen | Sigmaringen | Baden-Württemberg |
| Digital Technology and Consulting | Bachelor | Hochschule Albstadt-Sigmaringen | Sigmaringen | Baden-Württemberg |
| Applied Data Science and Analytics | Master | SRH Hochschule Heidelberg – Staatlich anerkannte Fachhochschule | Heidelberg | Baden-Württemberg |
| Data Science and Business Analytics | Bachelor | Hochschule Fresenius Heidelberg – staatlich anerkannte Hochschule der Hochschule Fresenius für Internationales Management GmbH | Heidelberg | Baden-Württemberg |
| Business Analytics, Controlling & Consulting | Master | Hochschule Heilbronn, Technik, Wirtschaft, Informatik | Heilbronn | Baden-Württemberg |
| Data Science | Bachelor | Hochschule Karlsruhe – Technik und Wirtschaft | Karlsruhe | Baden-Württemberg |
| Digital Management & Analytics | MBA | Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Umwelt Nürtingen-Geislingen | Nürtingen | Baden-Württemberg |
| Marketing Intelligence | Master | Hochschule Pforzheim – Gestaltung, Technik, Wirtschaft und Recht | Pforzheim | Baden-Württemberg |
| Big Data Management | Bachelor | AKAD Hochschule Stuttgart – staatlich anerkannt | Stuttgart | Baden-Württemberg |
| Data Science | Bachelor | AKAD Hochschule Stuttgart – staatlich anerkannt | Stuttgart | Baden-Württemberg |
| Data Science | Master | AKAD Hochschule Stuttgart – staatlich anerkannt | Stuttgart | Baden-Württemberg |
| Controlling und Data Analytics | Bachelor | AKAD Hochschule Stuttgart – staatlich anerkannt | Stuttgart | Baden-Württemberg |
| Controlling und Data Science/ KI | Master | AKAD Hochschule Stuttgart – staatlich anerkannt | Stuttgart | Baden-Württemberg |
| Media and Data-driven Business | Master | Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg | Stuttgart | Baden-Württemberg |
| Data Science in Business and Economics | Master | Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen | Tübingen | Baden-Württemberg |
| Business Analytics | Master | Universität Ulm | Ulm | Baden-Württemberg |
| Mathematical Data Science | Master | Universität Ulm | Ulm | Baden-Württemberg |
| Analytics & Data Management | Bachelor | Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Amberg-Weiden | Amberg | Bayern |
| Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) | Master | Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Amberg-Weiden | Amberg | Bayern |
| Data Analytics & Computer Vision | Master | Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Amberg-Weiden | Amberg | Bayern |
| Data Science | Bachelor | Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften Augsburg – University of Applied Sciences | Augsburg | Bayern |
| Data Science | Bachelor | Universität Augsburg | Augsburg | Bayern |
| Data Science | Bachelor | Technische Hochschule Deggendorf | Deggendorf | Bayern |
| Artificial Intelligence and Data Science | Master | Technische Hochschule Deggendorf | Deggendorf | Bayern |
| Data Science | Bachelor | Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg | Erlangen | Bayern |
| Data Science | Master | Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg | Erlangen | Bayern |
| Data Science | Bachelor | Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt | Ingolstadt | Bayern |
| Data Science & Scientific Computing | Bachelor | Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften München | München | Bayern |
| Business Intelligence/ Data Science | Bachelor | Hochschule der Bayerischen Wirtschaft für angewandte Wissenschaften – HDBW | München | Bayern |
| Data Engineering and Analytics | Master | Technische Universität München | München | Bayern |
| Mathematics in Data Science | Master | Technische Universität München | München | Bayern |
| Statistik und Data Science | Bachelor | Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München | München | Bayern |
| Statistics and Data Science | Master | Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München | München | Bayern |
| Data Science | Master | Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München | München | Bayern |
| Data Science Management | Bachelor | Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften Neu-Ulm | Neu-Ulm | Bayern |
| Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics | Master | Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften Neu-Ulm | Neu-Ulm | Bayern |
| Künstliche Intelligenz und Data Science | Bachelor | Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Regensburg | Regensburg | Bayern |
| Digital Business | Bachelor | Universität Regensburg | Regensburg | Bayern |
| Data Science | Master | Berliner Hochschule für Technik | Berlin | Berlin |
| Digital Business & Management | Bachelor | Berlin International University of Applied Sciences | Berlin | Berlin |
| Data Science & Business Analytics | Bachelor | Digital Business University of Applied Sciences | Berlin | Berlin |
| Data Science & Business Analytics | Master | Digital Business University of Applied Sciences | Berlin | Berlin |
| Big Data and Business Analytics | Master | ESCP Europe Wirtschaftshochschule Berlin e.V. | Berlin | Berlin |
| Analytics and Artificial Intelligence | Master | ESMT European School of Management and Technology | Berlin | Berlin |
| Data Science | Master | Freie Universität Berlin | Berlin | Berlin |
| Project Management and Data Science | Master | Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin | Berlin | Berlin |
| International Digital Business | Bachelor | Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin | Berlin | Berlin |
| Digitale Transformation – Data Science | Master | Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin | Berlin | Berlin |
| Business Intelligence and Process Management | Master | Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin | Berlin | Berlin |
| Data Science, AI, and Digital Business | Master | GISMA Business School | Potsdam | Brandenburg |
| Business Analytics | Master | GISMA Business School | Potsdam | Brandenburg |
| Data Science | Master | Universität Potsdam | Potsdam | Brandenburg |
| Data Science | Master | University of Europe for Applied Sciences | Potsdam | Brandenburg |
| Data Science | Bachelor | XU Exponential University of Applied Sciences | Potsdam | Brandenburg |
| Digital Transformation Management | Master | XU Exponential University of Applied Sciences | Potsdam | Brandenburg |
| Data Science for Society and Business | Master | Constructor University | Bremen | Bremen |
| Industrial Mathematics and Data Analysis | Master | Universität Bremen | Bremen | Bremen |
| Business Analytics | Master | SRH Hochschule Heidelberg – Staatlich anerkannte Fachhochschule | Heidelberg | Hamburg |
| Business Intelligence & IT-Integration | Master | Europäische Fernhochschule Hamburg | Hamburg | Hamburg |
| Data Science | Bachelor | Technische Universität Hamburg | Hamburg | Hamburg |
| Big Data und Data Science | Bachelor | Wilhelm Büchner Hochschule – Private Fernhochschule Darmstadt | Darmstadt | Hessen |
| Data Science | Master | Hochschule Darmstadt | Darmstadt | Hessen |
| Computational Business Analytics | Bachelor | Frankfurt School of Finance & Management | Frankfurt am Main | Hessen |
| Applied Data Science | Master | Frankfurt School of Finance & Management | Frankfurt am Main | Hessen |
| Data Analytics & Management | Master | Frankfurt School of Finance & Management | Frankfurt am Main | Hessen |
| Data Science | Bachelor | Philipps-Universität Marburg | Marburg | Hessen |
| Data Science | Master | Philipps-Universität Marburg | Marburg | Hessen |
| Digital Management | Master | DIPLOMA Hochschule – Private Fachhochschule Nordhessen | Bad Sooden-Allendorf | Hessen |
| Digital Business Management | Bachelor | Hochschule RheinMain | Wiesbaden | Hessen |
| Data Science | Master | Technische Universität Carolo-Wilhelmina zu Braunschweig | Braunschweig | Niedersachsen |
| Digitales Management | Bachelor | Technische Universität Clausthal | Clausthal-Zellerfeld | Niedersachsen |
| Business Intelligence and Data Analytics | Master | Hochschule Emden/Leer | Emden | Niedersachsen |
| Angewandte Data Science | Bachelor | Georg-August-Universität Göttingen | Göttingen | Niedersachsen |
| Angewandte Data Science | Master | Georg-August-Universität Göttingen | Göttingen | Niedersachsen |
| Mathematical Data Science | Bachelor | Georg-August-Universität Göttingen | Göttingen | Niedersachsen |
| Business Data Analytics | Master | Fachhochschule für die Wirtschaft Hannover | Hannover | Niedersachsen |
| Data Science | Bachelor | Leuphana Universität Lüneburg | Lüneburg | Niedersachsen |
| Management & Data Science | Master | Leuphana Universität Lüneburg | Lüneburg | Niedersachsen |
| Applied Economics and Data Science | Master | Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg | Oldenburg | Niedersachsen |
| Data Analytics and Decision Science | Master | Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen | Aachen | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Data Science | Master | Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen | Aachen | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Data Science | Master | Hochschule Bielefeld | Bielefeld | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Data Science | Master | Universität Bielefeld | Bielefeld | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Business Information Systems | Bachelor | Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, University of Applied Sciences | Sankt Augustin | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Information Systems | Bachelor | International School of Management | Dortmund | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Business Intelligence & Data Science | Master | International School of Management | Dortmund | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Data Science | Bachelor | Technische Universität Dortmund | Dortmund | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Data Science | Master | Technische Universität Dortmund | Dortmund | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Data Science, AI und Intelligente Systeme | Bachelor | Hochschule Düsseldorf | Düsseldorf | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Business Analytics | Master | Hochschule Düsseldorf | Düsseldorf | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Artificial Intelligence and Data Science | Master | Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf | Düsseldorf | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Business Information Systems | Bachelor | FOM Hochschule für Oekonomie & Management – University of Applied Sciences | Essen | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Big Data & Business Analytics | Master | FOM Hochschule für Oekonomie & Management – University of Applied Sciences | Essen | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Data Science | Master | FernUniversität in Hagen | Hagen | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Digital Science | Master | Technische Hochschule Köln | Köln | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Data Science | Bachelor | Technische Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe | Lemgo | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Business Analytics | Master | Universität Siegen | Siegen | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Data Science | Bachelor | Fachhochschule Südwestfalen | Iserlohn | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Data Science | Master | Fachhochschule Südwestfalen | Iserlohn | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Data Science | Bachelor | Westfälische Hochschule Gelsenkirchen, Bocholt, Recklinghausen | Gelsenkirchen | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
| Web & Data Science | Master | Universität Koblenz-Landau | Mainz | Rheinland-Pfalz |
| Data Science & Consulting | Master | Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft Ludwigshafen | Ludwigshafen | Rheinland-Pfalz |
| Quantitative Decision Making in Economics and Management | Master | Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz | Mainz | Rheinland-Pfalz |
| Künstliche Intelligenz & Data Science | Master | Hochschule Trier – Trier University of Applied Sciences | Trier | Rheinland-Pfalz |
| Data Science | Master | Universität Trier | Trier | Rheinland-Pfalz |
| Data Science & Artificial Intelligence | Bachelor | Universität des Saarlandes | Saarbrücken | Saarland |
| Data Science & Artificial Intelligence | Master | Universität des Saarlandes | Saarbrücken | Saarland |
| Data Science | Master | Technische Universität Chemnitz | Chemnitz | Sachsen |
| Mathematics for Data and Resource Science | Master | Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg | Freiberg | Sachsen |
| Data Science | Master | Universität Leipzig | Leipzig | Sachsen |
| Applied Mathematics for Network and Data Science | Master | Hochschule Mittweida, University of Applied Sciences | Mittweida | Sachsen |
| Data Science | Bachelor | Westsächsische Hochschule Zwickau | Zwickau | Sachsen |
| Data Science | Master | Hochschule Anhalt РAnhalt University of Applied Sciences | K̦then | Sachsen-Anhalt |
| Economics: Data Science & Policy | Master | Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg | Halle | Sachsen-Anhalt |
| Data Science | Master | Hochschule Harz, Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften (FH) | Wernigerode | Sachsen-Anhalt |
| Data Science and Knowledge Engineering | Master | Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg | Magdeburg | Sachsen-Anhalt |
| Applied Data Science | Master | NORDAKADEMIE Hochschule der Wirtschaft | Elmshorn | Schleswig-Holstein |
| Data Science | Master | Fachhochschule Kiel | Kiel | Schleswig-Holstein |
| Data Science & Artificial Intelligence | Bachelor | Fachhochschule Wedel | Wedel | Schleswig-Holstein |
| Data Science & Artificial Intelligence | Master | Fachhochschule Wedel | Wedel | Schleswig-Holstein |
| Big Data Management | MBA | IU Internationale Hochschule | Erfurt | Thüringen |
| Digitalisierungsmanagement | Bachelor | Duale Hochschule Gera-Eisenach | Gera | Thüringen |
| Computational & Data Science | Master | Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena | Jena | Thüringen |