Admission Requirements

Completed Bachelor's degree

To prove that you are suitable to take a Master's degree at Leuphana University, you are required to hold a Bachelor's degree or at least an equivalent qualification. The equivalence of foreign degrees is determined according to the assessment proposals of the Central Office for Foreign Education and assessed by uni-assist in the application procedure. Please also be aware of the exceptions.

Incompleted Bachelor's degree

If you have not yet completed your degree at the time of application, you can still apply. To do so, you must prove that you have successfully completed at least 81% of the total required workload in your current course. Depending on the degree program, 81% applies in relation to the total course credit of 180 Credit Points = 145 Credit Points or 210 Credit Points = 170 Credit Points. Please complete this form as proof of your progress and ask the examination office at your university to verify it. Please note: The 81% rule does not refer to your GPA, but to the number of credit points that you must have completed by the time of your application!

If the Bachelor's degree certificate is not yet available when you apply for a Master's program by the application deadline of June 1st, you must submit it by March 31st of the following year at the end of your first semester. If the proof is not provided in the prescribed time, the preliminary admission will be revoked: At the same time, you will be exmatriculated from the study program.

If you are completing your Bachelor's degree at Leuphana, please submit your Transcript of Records instead of the form.

International Law of Security, Peace and Sustainable Development: For a scholarship, the degree certificate must be available at the time of application in January.

Work and Organizational Psychology: The degree certificate must be received by September in the year in which you are applying.

Consecutive Relevance

At Leuphana Graduate School we offer consecutive Master's programs. This means that you can only apply for a specific program if your Bachelor's degree was in that same discipline and the Master's degree program builds on and deepens your level of knowledge from your first degree. Previous knowledge of a subject required for a consecutive Master's degree program is proven by a sufficient number of credit points according to European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) in an identical or related discipline.

On the basis of the list of consecutive subjects, you can get a first impression of whether your first degree is subject-related. Please use this list of subjects and the degree program profile to independently check whether your previous academic qualifications are sufficient for an application. The selection committee decides on your academic suitability for a Master's degree program on the basis of your Transcript of Records. The committee meets at the end of the application period.

Please note: An individual assessment of your consecutivity cannot be made in advance. There is no possibility to make up credit points not achieved during the Master's program. The necessary credit points must be available at the time of application.

Does your transcript show no credit points?

If your transcript does not show any credit points, please ask your responsible examination office to provide a document clearly stating what percentage of the total study program your respective courses accounted for.

If you are applying to the study programs Management & Entrepreneurship or Management & Sustainable Accounting and Finance and earned your degree in a country outside the EU, it is mandatory to take an academic aptitude test to determine your academic requirements. You may choose between the GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) and the GRE (Graduate Record Examination).  You will be considered suitably qualified if you score at least 505 on the GMAT or reach the 50th percentile on the GRE.

Another requirement is proof of sufficient English proficiency for all master’s programs. There are three categories of English proficiency requirements:

1. English-language programs
2. Predominantly German-language programs
3. Exceptions

If you do not hold either a German-language university entrance qualification or a German-language bachelor’s degree, you must also provide proof of German proficiency for German-language programs.

These information apply to the following study programs:

• Individual Research Master
• Cultural Studies: Culture and Organization
• Economics and Transformation
• Management & Data Science
• Management & Entrepreneurship
• Management & Sustainable Accounting and Finance
• Politics and Democracy
• Social Work Research
• Sustainability Science: Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Society
• Sustainability Science: Entrepreneurship, Agency and Leadership
• Sustainability Science: Governance and Law
• Sustainability Science: Resources, Materials and Chemistry

If English is your first language or native language, you do not need to provide proof of English proficiency*. All other applicants may demonstrate their English proficiency exclusively through one of the following methods:

1. an Internet-based TOEFL test (iBT) with a total score of at least 5.0 or 95 points
2. a TOEIC Listening & Reading test with at least 945 points
3. an IELTS Academic with at least 7.0
4. a passing score on the Cambridge C1 Advanced
5. a Pearson PTE Academic with a score of at least 76 points
6. an Oxford Test of English Advanced with a score of at least 141 points
7. a Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) with a score of at least 600 points
8. a Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test or a GRE Mathematics subtest equivalent to at least 600 GMAT points
9. a first degree program in which at least half of the instruction was conducted in English and the examinations were taken in English
10. a successfully completed university degree program in which all instruction was conducted in English and the examinations were taken in English
11. a diploma from an English-language school that qualifies the holder to pursue higher education in the respective country.

The documents listed in items 1–8 must not be more than 5 years old and must be provided at the time of application. Proof of German language proficiency is not required.

*Applicants whose native language is English and who are from Australia, Canada, Malta, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, the United Kingdom, or the United States are exempt from the English language requirement.

These information apply to the following programs:

• Management & Engineering
• Kulturwissenschaften: Medien und Digitale Kulturen
• Kulturwissenschaften: Kritik der Gegenwart - Künste, Theorie, Geschichte
• Rechtswissenschaft

If English is your first language or native language, you do not need to provide proof of English proficiency*. All other applicants may demonstrate their English proficiency exclusively through one of the following methods:

1. an Internet-based TOEFL test (iBT) with a total score of at least 4.0 or 72 points
2. a TOEIC Listening & Reading test with at least 785 points
3. an IELTS Academic with at least 5.5
4. a passing score on the Cambridge B2 First
5. a Pearson PTE Academic with a score of at least 59 points
6. an Oxford Test of English Advanced with a score of at least 111 points
7. a Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) with a score of at least 500 points
8. a Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test or a GRE Mathematics subtest equivalent to at least 500 GMAT points
9. the English language test offered by the International Center at Leuphana University with a minimum level of B2.2
10. University-level courses totaling at least 30 ECTS credits, taught exclusively in English and completed with an English-language examination**
11. a diploma from an English-language school that qualifies the holder for university study in the respective country.

The documents listed in sections 1–9 must not be more than 5 years old. Proof may be submitted by March 31 of the following year (end of the first academic semester). Applicants who neither hold a German university entrance qualification nor have earned a German-language bachelor’s degree or an equivalent German-language degree from a German university must also demonstrate sufficient proficiency in the German language.

*Applicants whose native language is English and who are from Australia, Canada, Malta, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, the United Kingdom, or the United States are exempt from the English proficiency requirement.

**If you wish to demonstrate your English proficiency through the 30 ECTS credits from your university studies and it is not clearly indicated on your diploma or transcript of records that you studied in English, please include proof of English proficiency through modules totaling 30 CP with your application. Applicants from Leuphana should use this document.

International Law and Sustainability

1. International English Language Testing System (IELTS) with at least 7.0 points or
2. online-based TOEFL test (iBT) with at least 96 points or
3. Completion of a university degree, a master's degree lasting at least nine months, or at least one final year of bachelor's level study in a predominantly English-speaking country as defined by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), including Canada, where the language of instruction was English.

The language proofs referred to in points 1) and 2) should not be more than 2 years old, and the evidence referred to in point 3) should not be more than 6 years old. Native speakers are exempt from providing proof.

International Law of Security, Peace and Sustainable Development

Applicants whose first language is not English and whose undergraduate degree studies were not completed in an English speaking country must achieve the minimum English language proficiency level. The proficiency level can only be confirmed with one of these language tests:

• IELTS Academic 6.5
• Internet-based TOEFL test (iBT) with at least 79 points
• Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) with 176 points
• Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) with 176 points
• PTE Academic with 59 point

If students choose the University of Glasgow for their second year of study, they are required to confirm their English language proficiency level with IELTS 7.0 (with no subset less than 6.5) or equivalent (if English is not their first language or they did not study their undergraduate degree in an English speaking country, as recognised by the UK Home Office).

If students choose Université libre de Bruxelles for their second year of study, they are required to submit a certificate proving a passive level of French.

All language test results must be no more than 2 years old of the application submission.

Psychology & Sustainability

For applicants whose first language is not English, the awarding Universities set a minimum English Language proficiency level. The English tests listed below are acceptable for admission for both EU and international students:

1. IELTS Academic 6.5 test with no section below 6.0
2. Internet-based TOEFL test (iBT) with at least 90 points and no section below 19 points, in the writing section not below 21 points
3. Paper-based TOEFL test (PBT) with at least 575 points and no section below 45 points, in the speaking section not below 55 points
4. Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) with Grade C or better
5. Cambridge English: Proficiency (CPE) with Grade C or better
6. University of Groningen Language Test Centre test B2 – speaking, B2 – writing
7. Completion of a university degree, at least nine months of master's study or at least one final year of bachelor's study in a predominantly English-speaking country as defined by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), including Canada, where the language of instruction was English.

The certificates referred to in points 1) to 6) shall not be more than 2 years old, and the evidence referred to in point 7) shall not be more than 6 years old.. Proof of English proficiency should be submitted with the application documents. No comparisons with other certification should be made.

Work & Organizational Psychology

You can find the necessary English Proficiency for an application in Work and Organizational Psychology on the website of Maastricht University.

Applicants to these degree programs who neither have a German school leaving certificate (higher education entrance qualification) nor hold their first degree from a German university must provide proof of sufficient German language skills by the time of application. The proof must not be older than 4 years. Proof of German language proficiency can be provided in one of the following ways:

• DSH 2
• TestDaF 4 *

* Only certificates issued by the TestDaF Institute itself or TestDaF-licensed institutes will be accepted.

The equivalents are the following proofs:

• Holders of a university entrance qualification which was acquired at a German-speaking school in Germany or abroad;
• successful graduates of an assessment test at a German Studienkolleg;
• Applicants who have already successfully completed a German language study program;
• Holders of the language diploma of the Kultusministerkonferenz Stufe II (DSD II) / (Beschlüsse der KMK vom 16. März 1972 und vom 05. Oktober 1973 in in their respective valid versions);
• holders of the Goethe Certificate C2;
• Applicants who have taken a language examination at another German university or at the International Study Centre Heidelberg or the Ecumenical Study Centre Bochum on the basis of the Framework Regulations for German Language Exams at German Universities.
• Holders of a certificate confirming that they have passed the examination "telc Deutsch C1 Hochschule" or telc Deutsch C2;
• Holders of other certificates that have been recognised by the Kultusministerkonferenz (KMK) and the Hochschulrektorenkonferenz (HRK) as proof of sufficient German language skills for admission to higher education.
• Holders of a certificate of successful completion of the German Language Test for University Admission (DSH) with the overall result DSH-1 or the Goethe-Zertifikat C1 on condition that the proof is provided by the end of the second semester at the latest. This regulation only applies if all other language requirements for admission are fulfilled at the time of application.