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Profile: Forming Society

Social Work | Part-time Distance Learning Study Programme (BA)

Kette aus Papierfiguren mit Sprechblase

Our society is constantly confronted with new and different challenges and difficulties. Social work addresses and examines these complex processes and develops solutions, arrangements and agreements together with a large number of actors involved. The part-time degree programme in social work provides you with the skills and the necessary expertise to manage, implement and reflect on these support processes.

Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Type:
Part time
Distance learning program (part-time)
Course language:
German
Standard study period:
8 semesters
Start of study:
Summer semester
Application deadline:
15/12 –15/01 (admission restricted)
Admission requirements:
General university entrance qualification/ entrance qualification for studies at universities of applied sciences/ equivalent recognised prior professional training and professional activity in the field of social work of at least 15 h/week
Credits:
180 ECTS credits
Module Manuals & Regulations
Profile

Social work: study with the greatest possible flexibility

With more than 100 different fields of work, social work is a varied branch of the profession that focuses primarily on practical work. The comprehensive knowledge transfer enables you to recognise the need for action in practice and to supervise corresponding interventions and services from planning to implementation and evaluation.

Even during your studies, you can set your own accents through the targeted choice of seminars and practical projects. In addition to studying the methods and theories of social work, you will also deal with sociological, psychological, political, legal and economic principles and the use of aesthetic and digital media in social work.

The part-time social work online degree programme focuses on the greatest possible flexibility. Through learning modules provided online, you can organise your daily study routine yourself and thus combine your job, family and studies well. Individual face-to-face meetings on the campus of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam promote the exchange between students and lecturers.

Concept & Network

The study programme is modularised, and special attention is paid to the "connection between theory and practice". This is reflected not only in the importance of internships or work experience accompanying the studies, but also in the individual modules, which are designed with both theory and practice in mind.

About three quarters of the study programme consists of online distance learning and one quarter of introductory and/or accompanying attendance events. These will take place once a month on weekends (friday and saturday). Attendance events allow students to get to know each other personally and are important for those learning processes that depend on immediate feedback (e.g. counselling skills, project work, coaching, supervision). The project-oriented structure of the attendance phases creates experiential spaces in which the knowledge acquired online can be reflected upon, additional competences can be taught and students' professional experiences can be addressed. Further information on the course content

In the online supervised distance learning programme, the media orientation of the programme is doubly justified, as a learning objective and as a medium of education: Nowadays, media competence is taken for granted in the field of social work. It permeates everyday professional life in internal office communication, data management, networking with the (professional) public and extends to client counselling. However, IT skills have not yet been adequately taught through university studies. In the part-time social work programme, the teaching of media competence is of great importance right from the start (cf. module overview below). At the same time, working through the online modules requires mastery of the electronic tools and trains the associated competences through daily use.

Specific professional key qualifications of social work such as counselling skills, ethical skills, dealing with groups, conducting conversations, etc. can only be taught in small groups with intensive supervision by university lecturers. This requires teachers to shift their teaching from imparting knowledge to supporting learning processes. The new media play an important role in this, because they offer students more independence and open up the possibility of shaping work processes cooperatively, without predetermined time and place commitments.

The objectives of the degree programme, both the face-to-face degree programme and the part-time online degree programme "Bachelor of Arts: Social Work" are to impart the professional knowledge required for professional practice and for the transition to master's degree programmes.

The aim of the degree programme Social Work | Dual is to enable students to apply scientific methods and knowledge and to provide them with professional action skills in the professional fields of social work. Theoretical basics, methods and professional as well as key competences are taught. In addition, the programme promotes the students' media competence.

In addition to individual learning objectives, which are largely derived from the working approaches and principles of lifeworld and social space-oriented social work, but which are also generally binding for a participative and partnership-based approach, the part-time social work degree programme intends to deepen a professional social work attitude that affects the students' personality. In this way, students should learn to understand the possibilities and limits of their role and function in social work institutions and facilities and, in addition, to recognise their personal possibilities and limits of action and to deal with the professional objectives and orientations of social work, the basis of which is, among other things, the social work professional ethics.

Why the social work study programme is particularly valuable from the point of view of teachers can be read in our short statements.

The degree programme Social Work | Dual (BA) is part of the BASA-online university network. Within this network, the participating universities jointly develop the online modules included in all study programmes, evaluate them and create updates. In this way, synergies can be utilised from the association of the various universities in the BASA-online university network. The universities are supported by the Centre for Distance Learning in the University Network (zfh) based in Koblenz.

Eight universities are currently members of the network:

  • ASH Berlin
  • Fulda University
  • University of Applied Sciences Kiel
  • University of Applied Sciences Koblenz
  • University of Applied Sciences Potsdam
  • HM Hochschule München
  • University of Applied Sciences Münster
  • University of Applied Sciences RheinMain
Logo des BASA-online-Hochschulverbund

Is this degree programme right for me?

One of the most important prerequisites for studying social work is a strong ability to communicate and empathise, as work in the social sector often takes place on a personal level. Due to this personal closeness, tensions can arise again and again in everyday work. Here it is helpful if you can endure these and at the same time distinguish yourself. You should also be a patient person, because solutions cannot always be found quickly and successes are not always visible. A basic interest in scientific work as well as social, legal and business management issues are also good basic requirements for studying social work.

You bring these qualities with you

  • Desire to support different people in such a way that they can help themselves
  • Appreciative, respectful attitude towards all people
  • Strong communication skills, empathy and patience
  • Ability to tolerate tension
  • Finding a balance between distance and closeness
  • Interest in legal as well as business management and organisational issues
  • Openness to perceive social developments

Info day (digital) for prospective students on 2nd December 2024

Would you like to get to know the course content better? Take part in the info day of the degree programme Social Work | Dual via zoom – on 2/12/2024 at 6 pm!

Online Study Choice Assistant (OSA)

Would you like to find out more about the social work degree programme, get opinions and tips from students and lecturers or take a look at typical study tasks?

With the Online Study Choice Assistant (OSA), you can test whether the degree programme is right for you.

BASA-online university network

Unsure? On the social media channels of the BASA-online university network you can get further insights into the part-time and online-supported bachelor's degree programme in social work.

Instagram

Facebook

  • The combination of online meetings with presence days is simply optimal. The presence in particular promotes group dynamics and ensures a good exchange.

    Marie
    34 years
  • BASA-online gives me the opportunity to make an exciting transfer: I let my work experience flow into my studies and take new, theoretical input straight back with me. I now understand much better what is behind the practical work.

    Jan
    30 years
  • With my studies, I would like to reorient myself. I have been working in a day-care centre for twelve years – soon I want to dedicate myself to new professional challenges with a higher degree.

    Judith
    37 years
  • The special thing about the social work degree programme in Potsdam is the possibility of studying while working. This allows me not only to develop personally, but also to take on new, more complex tasks in my job.

    Heike
    52 years
  • My manager asked if I would like to develop myself further by studying part-time. I was aware of how demanding it was. But it was absolutely worth it. For example, I have learned to organise myself much better and to reorganise my life's content.

    Ralf
    49 years
  • I am studying the degree programme Social Work | Dual because I want to broaden my professional horizons. And I enjoy supporting people to get out of low points. Studying gives me the tools to do that.

    Jessica
    27 years
Zwei Sprechblasen, die sich überlagern, vor blauem Hintergrund

7 Questions for ... Prof. Dr. Gudrun Perko & Prof. Dr. Andrea Schmidt

With the interview series "7 Questions for ...", the BASA-online university network would like to show the faces behind the network.

Prof. Dr. Gudrun Perko and Prof. Dr. Andrea Schmidt, who together head the degree programme Social Work | Dual, are interviewed.

To the interviews

Contact

The colleagues at the student counselling service provide information to prospective students, first-year students, parents, teachers and students on all general questions about the degree programme. If you have specific questions or concerns about the part-time distance learning programme in social work (BA), please contact the subject counselling service or the programme coordination.

Subject Counselling Service & Programme Management

Professor of Social Sciences with a Focus on Gender, Diversity and Mediation

Subject Counselling Service & Programme Management

Professor for social pedagogical action concepts

Programme Coordination

Coordination Early Childhood Studies (M. A.)
Part-time Social Work Coordination (B. A.), BASA-online
Study Coaching / Coordination Students4Students

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Department Degree programme Teaching language Start of study Application deadline
Childhood Studies and Children's Rights (MA) English Winter semester
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Early Childhood Education (BA) German Winter semester
15.05. – 15.07. (admission restricted)
Early Childhood Studies (MA) German Winter semester
15/06 – 15/10 (free of admission)
MA Social Work with a Focus on the Family German Winter semester
15.05. – 22.06. (NC degree program)
Social Management (MA) German Summer semester
Note: This course of study will no longer be offered from winter semester 2024/25.
Social Work (BA) German, English Winter semester
15/05 – 15/07 (restricted admission)
Social Work | Dual-Digital (BA) German Winter semester
15/06 – 15/08 (free of admission)
Social Work | Part-time Distance Learning Study Programme (BA) German Summer semester
15/12 –15/01 (admission restricted)
Career Prospects

Recognising, investigating, thematising – Social work

Our society is a complex web of social relationships and processes. Individuals, groups, organisations or entire districts face different challenges and difficulties. Social work recognises, examines and addresses social problems and challenges and works out solutions, arrangements and agreements together with a large number of actors involved. In the part-time social work degree programme, you will acquire additional knowledge (theories, methods, competences) on the basis of your professional experience in order to be able to recognise and justify the need for action in practice, to plan appropriate interventions and offers and to evaluate these with regard to their effect, as well as to professionally reflect on your professional practice. In addition, you will acquire research, preventive, intervening and aftercare working methods. The degree programme qualifies you for a management position as well as for an assistant management position and for coordinating, planning and evaluating tasks.

The degree and state recognition open up access to professional practice in social work and to further studies.

Possible areas of application

The part-time bachelor's degree programme in social work focuses on child and youth work, integration work, inclusion work and the accompaniment of older people, among other things. The degree programme imparts basic skills in child and youth work and prepares them for advisory, mediating or coordinating tasks for the following areas:

  • Youth, social and health care institutions
  • Providers of educational and training work
  • Social counselling services
  • Social management
  • Resocialisation

Here you will find an overview of the fields of work.

Personen halten ihre Hände übereinander

State recognition

Graduates of our bachelor's degree programmes at the social and educational sciences department receive state recognition upon separate application.

The basis for state recognition is the Brandenburg social professions act. On the website of the Brandenburg State Office for Social Affairs and Supply you will find all the important information as well as the form for applying for state recognition and for the medical certificate. The fact sheet of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the State of Brandenburg summarises the documents to be submitted.

Provincial regulations for social professions

These degree programmes might also interest you

More courses
Department Degree programme Teaching language Start of study Application deadline
Childhood Studies and Children's Rights (MA) English Winter semester
Note: This degree programme will no longer be offered from winter semester 2024/25
Early Childhood Education (BA) German Winter semester
15.05. – 15.07. (admission restricted)
Early Childhood Studies (MA) German Winter semester
15/06 – 15/10 (free of admission)
MA Social Work with a Focus on the Family German Winter semester
15.05. – 22.06. (NC degree program)
Social Management (MA) German Summer semester
Note: This course of study will no longer be offered from winter semester 2024/25.
Social Work (BA) German, English Winter semester
15/05 – 15/07 (restricted admission)
Social Work | Dual-Digital (BA) German Winter semester
15/06 – 15/08 (free of admission)
Social Work | Part-time Distance Learning Study Programme (BA) German Summer semester
15/12 –15/01 (admission restricted)
Study Content

Course of studies

The standard period of study for the part-time Bachelor's distance learning programme in Social Work is eight semesters and concludes with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Semester 1 Introduction to academic work and the legal areas of social work
Semester 2 Workshop and introduction to family, labour, existential and administrative law
Semester 3 Research, documentation, communication, design, creativity, presentation and introductions to social justice and inclusion/exclusion
Semester 4 Choice of focus and introduction to social work methods
Semester 5 Organisation, social work management, legal principles, project development, evaluation and social work methods, practice project
Semester 6 Social space, empowerment, networking, social work and business as well as crisis intervention, self-evaluation and supervision, practice project
Semester 7 Social work and health, social policy and work in a European and international context as well as practice project
Semester 8

Ethics and professional self-concept in social work as well as profession and discipline

  • Bachelor's thesis and examination interview
  • Overarching professional practice module

Teaching formats

The knowledge transfer in the part-time social work degree programme takes place in a blended learning format. The majority of the modules are made available to you digitally. You can decide flexibly when you complete the modules and how you organise your daily study routine. Furthermore, there are attendance events once a month, which extend over two days as a block seminar. The attendance events mainly serve as an introduction to the topics, reflection, research-based learning, practice and exchange among each other. Between the classroom sessions, you work through the individual modules online in self-study and are supported by our lecturers.

  • Blended learning: approx. 75 % online and 25 % attendance
  • 10 Classroom modules (incl. workshop and practical project)
  • 17 Online modules
  • Supervised mentoring during the course
  • Research-based learning in a special seminar form (workshop principle) and presentation of this content
  • Practical module if state recognition is desired

Study content

In the currently valid module handbooks and study and examination regulations of the social and educational sciences department, you will find the module overview, a detailed description of the modules and study contents as well as the study plan for the social work part-time distance learning study programme.

Compulsory modules (online)

  • History, theoretical approaches and structure of social work
  • Introduction to the legal fields of social work
  • Family: A multidisciplinary introduction
  • Work: A multidisciplinary introduction
  • Introduction to livelihood law and administrative law
  • Social Justice: A Multidisciplinary Introduction
  • Inclusion/Exclusion: A Multidisciplinary Introduction
  • Social Work Organisation and Management
  • Family Law and Child and Youth Welfare Law in the Context of Social Work
  • Project Planning and Evaluation
  • Social space orientation and networking
  • Economic aspects in social work
  • Social work and health: prevention and health promotion
  • Social policy and transnational references in social work

Electives (online)

  • Introduction to the chosen field of work: children and adolescents, rehabilitation, context of generations, social work and education, delinquency, diversity, public social administration, migration and flight.
  • Living environments and methods of social work
  • Specific problem situations/ concepts/ crisis intervention in social work including selected areas of law

Presence modules

  • Introduction to scientific work
  • Introduction to social work methods
  • Specific methods of social work: creativity and media education
  • Conversation and counselling in social work
  • Diversity: Methodological approaches in social work
  • Specific social work methods in crises and conflicts
  • Ethics and professional action in social work
  • Profession and discipline: theories of social work and their relation to fields of practice

Theory project

In the theory project, you will discuss a self-selected question from professional practice in the form of a written, academic term paper. In doing so, you observe, analyse and interpret selected situations from practical social work and place them in the context of theoretical explanatory approaches.

Practice project

For your practice project, you are to design, implement and evaluate a change project in the context of your own professional activity. For this purpose, you will create a concept with relevant references to theory, choose the appropriate methodological approaches and finally implement your planning in a concrete practice project. Subsequently, you will present your process- and result-oriented analyses of the self-initiated and/or accompanied practice intervention.

Thesis

During the last semester, you will write your bachelor's thesis and will be accompanied in the process by a research colloquium.

Projects from the department

More projects

Certificate Programme "Fan- und Zuschauermanagement" (FZM)

The aim of the certificate programme is to provide scientific, conceptual, strategic and action-oriented skills for managerial, planning, coordinating and evaluating activities in the field of fan and spectator management.

ÜberAl – Transitions of Deaf and Hard of Hearing People in Working Life

The research project funded by the Hans Böckler Foundation is investigating the challenges and needs of employees who sign during career transitions.

Human-Robot Interaction in Social Robotics

The aim of the project, which is subsidised by the European Regional Development Fund, is to set up an interdisciplinary test and experimental environment for social robots.

Fatherhood in the Penal System

A pilot study on the construction of parenthood by fathers in prison.

Attendance Dates

Overview of attendance dates

The students of the part-time and online-supported degree programme in social work receive their learning plans for the respective semester with detailed information early on. The following schedule provides an overview of the attendance times for the programme. All dates are given as dd/mm/jj.

Winter semester 2024/25

Classes of 2021 & 2023

  • 27/ & 28/09/2024
  • 18/ & 19/10/2024
  • 15/ & 16/11/2024
  • 13/ & 14/12/2024
  • 17/ & 18/01/2025

Class of 2022

  • 20/ & 21/09/2024
  • 11/ & 12/10/2024
  • 08/ & 09/11/2024
  • 06/ & 07/12/2024
  • 10/ & 11/01/2025

Class of 2024

  • 20/ & 21/09/2024
  • 11/ & 12/10/2024
  • 15/ & 16/11/2024
  • 06/ & 07/12/2024
  • 10/ & 11/01/2025

Summer semester 2025

Classes of 2022 & 2024

  • 28/ & 29/03/2025
  • 02/ & 03/05/2025
  • 23/ & 24/05/2025
  • 20/ & 21/06/2025
  • 11/ & 12/07/2025

Classes of 2023 & 2025

  • 04/ & 05/04/2025
  • 25/ & 26/04/2025
  • 06/ & 07/06/2025
  • 27/ & 28/06/2025
  • 18/ & 19/07/2025

Winter semester 2025/26

Classes of 2022 & 2024

  • 10/ & 11/10/2025
  • 24/ & 25/10/2025
  • 21/ & 22/11/2025
  • 12/ & 13/12/2025
  • 16/ & 17/01/2026

Classes of 2023 & 2025

  • 26/ & 27/09/2025
  • 17/ & 18/10/2025
  • 14/ & 15/11/2025
  • 05/ & 06/12/2025
  • 09/ & 10/01/2026

Summer semester 2026

Classes of 2023 & 2025

  • 20/ & 21/03/2026
  • 17/ & 18/04/2026
  • 08/ & 09/05/2026
  • 05/ & 06/06/2026
  • 10/ & 11/07/2026

Classes of 2024 & 2026

  • 27/ & 28/03/2026
  • 24/ & 25/04/2026
  • 29/ & 30/06/2026
  • 26/ & 27/06/2026
  • 17/ & 18/07/2026
Application & Contact

Dates & requirements for your application

The most important deadlines, dates and admission requirements for the part-time distance learning programme in social work (BA) are compiled here. In the next section, you will find out which steps you need to take for a successful application.

Dates

  • until 15th of January: register and submit online application
  • until 15th of January: apply for a higher semester to continue a degree programme you have started at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam

Access requirements

  • General university entrance qualification according to the Brandenburg university act: General university entrance qualification or entrance qualification for studies at universities of applied sciences or previous professional training recognised as equivalent.
  • Work experience in the field of social work of at least 15 hours per week during the course of study.

Time requirement & costs

  • Have 25 hours per week to study
  • Regular semester fee
  • 65.00 euros per online module
  • Travel, accommodation and catering costs for the attendance days

This is how you apply!

In the following, we explain to you which aspects you should pay attention to from the registration for the central allocation of study places to the matriculation (enrolment).

The part-time degree programme in social work participates in the central allocation of study places, the dialogue-oriented service procedure (DoSV) via hochschulstart.de. For the summer semester, you must register at hochschulstart. de from 15 December to 15 January and then create and submit your application in the MyCampus university portal of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam.

Let us guide you through the procedure step by step and use our DoSV-Guide.

Documents to be submitted

Please submit the following documents as PDF files with your online application in the MyCampus university portal:

  • University entrance qualification
  • Curriculum vitae in table form with photo
  • If applicable, proof of professional or other previous experience relevant to the field of work
  • If applicable, university degree certificate and justification for taking up a second degree programme
  • If applicable, proof of service
  • If applicable, proof(s) of hardship application or application for compensation for disadvantages

Checklist

After you have completed your online application in the MyCampus university portal, you will receive a personal checklist with the following information:

  • List of all supporting documents that you have uploaded as PDF files according to the information you provided in your online application.
  • Notes on the further course of the procedure

Selection procedure

Applicants who fulfil the admission requirements take part in the procedure for awarding places. In the allocation procedure for the first semester, the following are deducted in advance from the number of places to be allocated:

  • All applicants who were unable to accept an earlier admission due to service, as well as all applicants who are members of the national squad of a national sports association of the German Olympic Sports Confederation
  • 11 % for applicants with a foreign university entrance qualification
  • 3 % for applicants for a second degree
  • 3 % for applicants who are to be considered on the basis of hardship.

The remaining places are allocated 80 % according to the result of a university selection procedure and 20 % according to waiting time.

The result of the university selection procedure is determined on the basis of the following criteria (weighting in brackets):

  • Average grade of the higher education entrance qualification (40 %)
  • Previous professional experience (30 %)
  • Selection interview (30 %)

The number of participants in the selection interview is limited to three times the number of places to be awarded in the university selection procedure. The order of the applicants to be invited (the so-called ranking list) is determined by the grade of the university entrance qualification. Applicants who occupy a correspondingly high position on the ranking list are invited by the selection committee to a selection interview by e-mail.

The selection interviews will take place between 29 January and 2 February 2024 via Zoom.

Admission

Following the university selection procedure, the study places are awarded in the dialogue-oriented service procedure via hochschulstart.de. Applicants with a correspondingly high ranking will receive a time-limited offer of admission on hochschulstart.de, which they can actively accept. Further information on the coordination phase on hochschulstart.de can be found in our DoSV Guide.

Once you have accepted the offer of admission, you will receive your notification of admission from hochschulstart.de. If you do not accept the offer of admission by the deadline, the ranking list will continue to be processed and the study place will be reallocated.

Have you accepted your place at university via hochschulstart.de? Then you have the option of submitting an enrolment application for the summer semester in the MyCampus university portal of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam.

Once you have submitted your online application for enrolment, please submit the printed and signed application together with all required documents in paper form by the deadline. The day of the enrolment deadline is decisive for the submission of the documents, whereby the date of receipt by post at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam is decisive.

Documents to be submitted

  • University entrance qualification
  • If applicable, further documents according to the enrolment application form.

Do you have questions about the enrolment process at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam? We have compiled a list of frequently asked questions and answers regarding enrolment and admission.

Start of studies

After you have successfully completed the application process, we recommend that you take a look at the start of studies page of the social and educational sciences department. There you will find important information and dates regarding the start of your studies at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam.

Further information

The following links provide you, and especially international applicants, with further information on the topics of application and enrolment at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam.

International applicants

You would like to apply for studies from the first or a higher semester and have acquired your school-leaving qualification and/or university degree abroad? Then you can have degrees and achievements acquired abroad recognised and study with us.

Application information for internationals

Application & Enrolment Procedure

The application and study service provides information and advice on general questions regarding the application process, admission and enrolment at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, application for a higher semester, but also on topics such as compensation for disadvantages, part-time studies, waiting semesters and hardship applications.

Application & Enrolment University of Applied Sciences Potsdam

Contact & Services

The student counselling service provides information and advice on general questions about the degree programme as well as on topics such as choosing a degree programme, application, enrolment and study organisation.

For subject-specific questions about module content, credit transfer, examinations or specialisations in the part-time distance learning programme in social work (BA), the subject counselling service or programme coordination is the right place to go.

Subject Counselling Service & Programme Management

Professor of Social Sciences with a Focus on Gender, Diversity and Mediation

Subject Counselling Service & Programme Management

Professor for social pedagogical action concepts

Programme Coordination

Coordination Early Childhood Studies (M. A.)
Part-time Social Work Coordination (B. A.), BASA-online
Study Coaching / Coordination Students4Students

Student Financing

Room 3.02a

Family Affairs Commissioner

Room 026

Office hours

Tue and Thu 9.30 am – 1.30 pm

Commissioner for University Employees with Impairment

Room 201

Office hours

by arrangement

Contact Persons Department of Student Affairs