Concept development, organisational design, and cooperation management are the three core competencies that you will develop during the degree programme. After completing the degree programme, you will be able to draw up and further develop powerful concepts in youth welfare. In addition, you will develop appropriate forms of organisation and processes for implementing these concepts with the use of academic methods. You will design these processes in a manner tailored to social and living environments by encouraging cooperation between institutions outside youth welfare.

Our degree programme will prepare you for all planning and coordinating activities within youth welfare. You will be able to work in professional specialist counselling and to take on advanced training and management positions, whether for public or voluntary youth welfare organisations and associations. After completing the degree, you will also have the professional skills to qualify for positions in the senior civil service.

The Master’s programme is divided into six module areas:

1. History and Fields of Action covers the historical and comparative foundations of the field.

2. Concept Development and Life Situations focuses on social science and the socio-educational analysis of the life situations of young people. You will explore the socio-economic, health-related and socio-cultural circumstances of children, young people and families.

3. In Communication and Reflection, you will learn how to develop and evaluate concepts, and actively shape and present processes. You will take courses on quality development and evaluation, structuring and planning support, and presentation and communication.

4. How your development efforts as a specialist are received and processed in practice depends on the institution’s structures and processes. In Organisation and Management, you will therefore address the administrative and economic conditions of institutions of youth welfare services.

5. Courses in Planning and Cooperation concentrate on shaping socio-spatial cooperation networks. You will gain the necessary specialist knowledge in modules such as Youth Welfare Planning as Part of Infrastructure Development or Shaping Cooperation with Other Organisational Areas.

6. Finally, in Empirical Research and IT, you will have the opportunity to explore your own research issues within a practical research project. You will also deal with information technologies, which are essential in youth work.

Our Master’s programme is designed for full-time study. The period of mandatory attendance is two whole working days a week, as well as one or two weeks of block classes per semester.

Our degree programme, which is unique in Germany, is characterised by its creative environment. We enable the pursuit of a study programme that is oriented closely to everyday professional life, integrating and taking into account the latest trends in youth welfare. You will learn in a productive, practice-oriented manner, while you work in small groups to help comprehend subject content. During your practical research project, you will be able to gain knowledge that can then be applied directly to professional practice.