Accreditation

State Recognition and Institutional Accreditation

Constructor University was established in 1999 as International University Bremen. As a non public/private university, Constructor University required a state accreditation of the City State of Bremen: “An educational institution which is not sponsored by the Free Han-seatic City of Bremen requires state recognition by the Senator for Science and Ports.” (§ 112 (1) of the Higher Education Act of the City State of Bremen (HEABrem)) The preliminary state recognition was awarded in 1999.

Whereas the City State of Bremen’s administration is responsible for the quality assurance of its public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), Constructor University has to undergo an external evalution as a condition for state accreditation: “The Senator for Science and Ports may at regular intervals, in particular in the case of temporary accreditation, obtain an expert opinion from an accreditation institution in the case of staterecognized nongovernmental higher education institutions (institutional accreditation, reaccreditation).” (§ 113 (1) HEABrem)

This external expert opinion is provided by the German Science and Humanities Council (“Wissenschaftsrat”, WR) that is responsible for evaluating all private HEIs in Germany (WR Accreditation). WR’s institutional accreditation is based on quality benchmarks in research and education as well as certain financial and structural prerequisites.

The WR accredited Constructor University – at that time International University Bremen – in 2001 for the first time with conditions and recommendations. After fulfillment of the condition the City State of Bremen awarded the full state recognition in 2004. In 2008 Constructor University’s – at that time Jacobs University’s – institutional accreditation was renewed by the WR for a maximal period of ten years. Again, after fulfillment of WR’s conditions the state recognition was awarded for ten years in 2010 and 2018, respectively. Having met certain requirements of the state recognition of 2018, Constructor University asked for and was granted state recognition for an unlimited period in 2021.

Program Accreditation

All Bachelor's and Master's programs offered by any state or state-recognized higher education institutions in Germany are required to be accredited. In Bremen, this is regulated by § 112 (1) in line with § 53 (4) of the Higher Education Act of the City State of Bremen.

If a study program has successfully undergone an accreditation procedure, it receives an accreditation and bears the Accreditation Council’s seal of quality for the period of its accreditation. All Constructor University’s study programs are accredited. The legal foundation of the accreditation system is formed by the Interstate Study Accreditation Treaty, the Specimen Decree and the Accreditation Council Act of the German Accreditation Council.

For further information please consult: https://www.akkreditierungsrat.de/index.php/en/accreditation-system/accreditation-system. The accreditation system is compliant with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG) and contributes therefore to the realization of a common European Higher Education Area.

Program accreditation ensures that the study programs comply with the legal framework and academic requirements. At the same time, a certain degree of comparability of study programs within Germany is established. To this end, a study program is assessed by an accreditation agency in regard to the formal criteria of the Specimen Decree and by an expert panel of professors, professionals, and students regarding academic criteria. The results of both assessments are compiled in an accreditation report that is sent with recommendations to the AR that decides upon the accreditation with or without conditions. Program accreditations are valid for eight years.

All study programs of Constructor University are accredited. The final accreditation reports are public, published in the database of the AR (list of accredited study programs with accreditation reports). For more details about the date when the validity of the respective study program accreditation expires, please consult the table below.