@dietz199 Actually it is the equivalent of a BS degree in the US (as per the Bologna Process) - just has a very practical focus (primarily technical) rather than more theoretical at university, and usually less majors, and no doctorate programs.
Hochschule is more like a community college, really (particularly those offering an A.A.S. degree)—cf. the “very practical focus (primarily technical)”.
Hochschule/Fachhochschule is not at all a completely separate track of education, that was a long time ago if ever. They are comparable to directional colleges with a preprofessional focus and an emphasis on coops. Unlike universities, they offer admission to students having graduated from vocational high schools, not just college prep track students, but many students who have completed the admissions requirement for universities prefer them because of the preprofessional emphasis. Some schools and programs have gained national recognition and admission is more competitive than at most universities. Hochschule/Fachhochschule graduates have the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, lower than university graduates, though university graduates have an edge in level of salary.
Adding that many now have well regarded masters programs, and a few have managed even to start doctoral programs IIRC, though that one remains controversial. Classes are smaller, advising tends to be better and the drop out rates are fairly low as well.
@kjevelyn, you will find that most people in Western Germany and most younger people in Eastern Germany have conversational English, so surviving is easy, but if you speak very little German, you will probably socialize mostly with other foreign students and not find so many opportunities to broaden your mind. Carefully consider what PPs have said about the lack of shiny facilities, housing, handholding, advising…it is hard to wrap your mind around how different systems can be who appear to have the same origin and purpose.
So (Fach)hochschule vs. Universität as the CSUs vs. the UCs, maybe?
@dfbdfb No. For example, RWTH Aachen is technically a “hochschule” (thus the H in its name) and is the largest technical university in Germany and ranked #2 in Engineering (after TUM).
Hochschule is not at all like CC in the US. (That’s not to say that all of them all high quality, there’s a range just like anywhere else.) For all intents and purposes they are universities and that’s why they use the word “University” in their English names.
@insanedreamer: Right—that’s why I was asking about whether the (Fach)hochshulen are along the lines of the CSUs, not CCs. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, for example, is a CSU, but certainly highly regarded (in its case, also for things like engineering).
@dfbdfb, @insanedreamer, yes, CSU to UC is actually very much like Fachhochschule to Universität, including the small number of very highly regarded Fachhochschulen comparable to Cal Poly (not that any school in Germany is actually very much like a school in the US). Insanedreamer, Hochschule simply means institute of higher education and as such comprises all types. There is a big difference between schools that style themselves Technische Hochschule, which is comparable to institute of technology and which have always had admission and education standards at least as high as universities, and former Fachhochschulen which have dropped the “Fach” (meaning restricted to preprofessional subjects) in an attempt at better branding.
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