Bachelor Studies - Creative and Inspiring

The challenges for the future are rarely confined to one academic discipline. It is not by chance that innovations emerge at the intersection of different disciplines. The College of Leuphana University Lüneburg offers students a degree program that is shaped by this interdisciplinary idea, thereby giving students the opportunity to become involved in the defining issues of 21st century civil society. Bachelor students can chose from over twenty disciplines, allowing them a wide range of combinations in creating their majors and minors (primary and secondary disciplines), while developing interdisciplinary skills as well. Therefore, you can also tailor your education to suit your personal interests, which means you will be able to combine your individual inclinations with your academic strengths. Critical thinking and questioning, along with taking personal responsibility in designing projects together with others: these qualities stand at the center of the College’s educational program.

With the Bachelor program Studium Individuale, students in the College have even more freedom: it gives them the opportunity to confront today’s leading questions and problems by allowing them to decide for themselves which issues they want to include in their interdisciplinary curriculum. The Bachelor Program belongs to the family of Liberal Arts and Sciences degree programs that provide a wide-ranging interdisciplinary education, in which the interests, abilities and strengths of the individual student stand at the center of their development.

In teacher education, as well, Leuphana University Lüneburg is opening new paths: in that the education of teachers is recognized as the responsibility of all faculty members, with a special place for the Education Faculty. Already 30 professors in that faculty are engaged in research and instruction about the future of teacher education. The Center for the Future of Teacher Education bundles together Leuphana’s existing initiatives and will develop new ideas for the future oriented education in primary, secondary and intermediate schools, as well as in vocational schools specialized in social and business pedagogy.

International Study

Along with the freedom to design your education and develop practical applications, Leuphana College’s education offers an international orientation with English-language courses and a Bachelor’s degree that integrates study abroad programs. Students in the English-language Bachelor program in Digital Media can earn a second, international degree by studying abroad for an additional two semesters. The School of Creative Media at Hong Kong City University offers this option. The Global Classroom allows students to interact with American students via the Internet. The newest E-conference and E-learning equipment provides the platform for international collaboration with students at Arizona State University. An internationally oriented, completely English-language degree program in International Business Administration & Entrepreneurship is in the planning stages now. It will provide classical business management know-how, combined with research and practical experience in the most pertinent entrepreneurial methods. The degree program is targeted toward educating internationally oriented business managers, who can evaluate complex issues from multiple perspectives in a socially responsible manner. Classes could start as soon as this coming winter semester.

Intensive Advising

The distinct profile of Leuphana College arises not only from its qualified course offerings, the freedom it allows students to design their own education, and it’s many practical applications. The intensive advising and support offered students during their academic career is another key difference that distinguishes Leuphana College from other universities. In a German-wide comparison, Lüneburg University was highly ranked for its student-faculty advising ratio. While the average ratio for public universities in Germany stands at 1:72, at Leuphana the relationship is an impressive 45 students per professor. This has a very positive influence on the student life, especially in terms of smaller class sizes. 

Successful Start

The university also takes great effort to ease the transition for students into the university and to provide a variety of support mechanisms during their studies at Leuphana. In this regard, Opening Week and the Leuphana Semester are unique events within the German academic scene. During Opening Week, students get to know the university, the city and their degree program, while working with fellow students to get their own projects started. Older students and instructors help them along the way.


All first-semester students complete the subsequent Leuphana Semester together. They work on quantitative and qualitative research methods, the tools required for the historically oriented humanities, and the social responsibilities of scientific researchers. This first semester enables students to learn about history, philosophy and scientific theory by asking transdisciplinary questions. It creates the academic foundation on which they can later build their academic training.

Advice and Assistance

The transition from school to university brings with it new living arrangements, such as deciding your own daily schedule, having new assignments, and a changed social environment. All this demands more individual initiative than life at school did, and therefore many new questions need to be answered. In order to ease the transition into university life, tutors help orient students during the excitement of the first semester. The College College Tutorium helps all first semester students with questions about their studies and about finding their way around campus. Working in small groups, students are given information about the organization of Leuphana, about whom to contact in the university’s central administration, as well as answers to all questions they might have about the start of their university studies. The tutors are also students of Leuphana College, who only recently completed their own first semester and thus are able to pass on their experience.

As they continue through the later stages of their education, these emerging academics will still find answers to their questions and problems in dialogue with others. Leuphana’s “Student Reflections” helps them with those academic questions and concerns that lie beyond their particular discipline. Experienced instructors are available to help them every semester. Leuphana also offers its own Writing Workshop, which can assist students in many different ways as they finish essays, homework, or final theses. The Writing Workshop also helps organize “The Long Night of Writing” event. Students are invited to bring along their academic work. They have the chance to work on their projects during the evening and late night hours of the university library, while receiving support from instructors, librarians, student advisors, and writing tutors.