If you would like to find out more about the specific details of the master's programme Business Administration, please click here.
If you are interested in the Double Master’s Programme Business Administration in cooperation with Aalto University, the Louvain School of Management or the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, your application must be submitted by 15 May.
Application information
Application deadline
From April until 15 June, you apply exclusively online via the campus management system KLIPS.
At the time of application, all subject and language requirements must be met.
At the time of application, all documents must be provided in either German or in English.
Documents submitted after the application deadline will not be accepted.
Subject-related requirements
To take part in the selection procedure, the subject-related admission requirements must be met:
Completed bachelor's degree
Completed Bachelor's degree programme that corresponds to the subject of the selected Master's degree programme.
If you have not completed your bachelor's degree, at least 80% of the credit points to be earned must be completed. The pending examinations must be completed by 30 September at the latest.
at least 60 ECTS in the field of Business Administration
at least 18 ECTS in the field of Economics
at least 15 ECTS in the fields of Statistics and/or Mathematics (only modules with mathematical and/or statistical methodological skills; pure (software) application skills are not accepted)
only mandatory for Business Administration Accounting & Taxation, Health Economics and Information Systems
School knowledge of German
German school leaving certificate (Zeugnis der allgemeinen Hochschulreife)
Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree totally taught in German
Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang
DSH-2 oder DSH-3
International students who have attended the Studienkolleg in Germany (i.e. preparatory courses for foreign students) and have passed the assessment test do not require the DSH. The University of Cologne does not provide examinations for the "Deutsche Sprachprüfung für den Hochschulzugang" (DSH).
Deutsches Sprachdiplom der Kultusministerkonferenz
Second Level (DSD II) (for more information, please contact the German Embassy)
TestDaF (Deutsch als Fremdsprache)
with at least 4 in each of the four examination parts (can be obtained at Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft; only 3 or 4 test dates per year)
Information on the accepted language certificates can be found here.
When applying for a semester abroad, the valid language certificate must be available at the application deadline for the semester abroad.
IELTS Academic1
5.5
Accepted in addition to the regular test: IELTS Indicator and IELTS Online
Cambridge2
B2 First (FCE), B2 Business Vantage (BEC Vantage), C1 Advanced (CAE), C2 Proficiency (CPE)
Bachelor's degree2
Bachelor's degree totally taught in English
With bachelor double degree: at least one year must have been completed in an English-speaking country.
(Please submit a proof that your Bachelor's degree programme was completed 100 % in English: e.g. Diploma Supplement or an official letter from the university clearly confirming this).
Master's degree2
Master's degree totally taught in English
Native2
has to be verified by school certificates
German school leaving certificate2 (e.g. Abiturzeugnis)
After the end of class 11 (G8) or class 12 (G9) at least 5 points in German grading system must be demonstrated.
If the higher education entrance qualification was obtained at Rudolf Steiner schools (Waldorf school), the grade at the end of the last class with at least 5 points will be considered.
not accepted
School leaving certificate from a member state of the European Union2
The school leaving certificate explicitly states English language proficiency at level B2 in a separate sentence. Only the grade is not sufficient.
not accepted
International/ European Baccalaureat2
accepted
not accepted
UNIcert2
UNIcert II
not accepted
1 validity for two years 2 unlimited validity
Application documents
The following documents must be uploaded to KLIPS as originals or as authenticated documents in German or in English.
Bachelor's certificate or proof that 80 % have been succesfully completed
mandatory
If you have not finished your bachelor studies but have passed at least 80% of the examinations (at least 144 credits in a bachelor degree carrying 180 ECTS credits), you can apply by submitting a confirmation of all credits earned so far, along with a provisional average grade computed and certified by your examination office. Please note that the remaining credits must be earned by 30 September.
Transcript of records
mandatory
List of all taken modules and courses, including grades and credits, along with a provisional average grade computed and certified by your examination office.
Transcript of semester abroad
optional
Only if examinations passed abroad should be considered for the admission criteria as well.
Subject-related admission criteria
See PDF file in "subject-related requirements"
mandatory
Enter the courses you have successfully completed so far during your bachelor's degree programme in the PDF document. List only courses that you have completed at the time of application.
School leaving certificate
mandatory
A-levels, High school diploma etc.
(please submit all pages of the school leaving certificate)
Course catalogue
mandatory
Official description of the content of all taken bachelor courses. Course catalogue or PDF-file with link to course description at the website of the bachelor's university. If your university does not issue module descriptions or does not provide it in German or in English, please upload a PDF document explaining this informally. Please do not have your module descriptions translated! If we still need the module descriptions when reviewing your application, we will contact you.
Proof of German language skills
mandatory for Business Administration Accounting & Taxation only*
Please note the accepted proofs of language under "Language requirements".
*This is not necessary for applicants who have obtained a university degree (e.g. Bachelor) or the university entrance qualification (e.g. Abitur) in German language.
Proof of English language skills
mandatory
Please note the accepted proofs of language under "Language requirements".
mandatory for applicants with a bachelor's degree obtained outside Germany
Request a preliminary review documentation (VPD) issued for the University of Cologne from uni-assist. You can have your documents checked by uni-assist all year round, the VPD is not tied to an application semester.
Experience shows that the processing time is 8 weeks. Please make sure to request a VPD at uni-assist well in advance of the application deadline in KLIPS.
After you have received the VPD, create an online application in KLIPS.
Admission test
mandatory for the Double Master's Programme Business Administration with Aalto University (Finland) and Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (India) / optional for the Double Master's Programme Business Administration with Louvain School of Management (Belgium), Business Administration, Business Analytics & Econometrics, and Economics
We recommend that you take an admission test as this will increase your chances in the admission process. It will also be considered when applying for a semester abroad.
Please note the information under "Selection procedure & admission test".
Selection procedure & admission test
Selection procedure
If the number of eligible applicants exceeds the number of places available for the programme, a selection procedure will be carried out. The applications are ranked in descending order of score, and the applicants with the highest scores are admitted.
Calculating the personal score
To calculate the personal score, points for the Bachelor's grade and points for an optional admission test are added together. If the final grade is not yet available, proof of the current average grade is required.
Between 34 and 68 points can be achieved for the Bachelor's grade. The detailed calculation can be viewed here.
Admission test
Up to 32 points are awarded for the admission test. If the percentile ranking achieved in the test is below 36 or if no test is submitted, 0 points are applied to the score. We recommend that you take an admission test, as this increases your chances of admission. The individual score is also taken into account when applying for a semester abroad.
June 15 - You are welcome to send your application and submit the test result by 15 June via KLIPS. The test result tab remains editable until the application deadline, even if you have sent your application beforehand.
In the meantime, we will check the admission criteria and give you feedback on your eligibility.
Release result at GMAC for University of Cologne: We only guarantee that results submitted by 25 June will be taken into account. Without approval, the test result will be included in the score calculation with the value 0
Admission results
The table below shows the admission results for five majors in Business Administration over the past two years.
The first number is the score of the main procedure. All applicants with this score or higher were granted admission. The number in brackets is the score of the move-up procedures. How the score is calculated is explained in the section selection procedure & admission test.
According to the "Ordinance on the Allocation of Study Places in North Rhine-Westphalia" (Verordnung über die Vergabe von Studienplätzen in Nordrhein-Westfalen), our eligible applicants are admitted in two quotas (see FAQ 3.5).
Year
93 % of study slots for applicants with ...
EU/ EEA citizenship OR
EU/ EEA school-leaving certificate OR
EU/ EEA Bachelor’s degree OR
Married to EU/ EEA-citizen
7 % of study slots for applicants with ...
No EU/ EEA-citizenship AND
No EU/ EEA school-leaving certificate AND
No EU/ EEA Bachelor’s degree
Accounting and Taxation
2023
53 (48)
40
2024
52 - chosen by lot (47,9)
38
Corporate Development
2023
64,6 (58)
66 (64)
2024
64 - chosen by lot (60 - chosen by lot)
74,1 (68 - chosen by lot)
Finance
2023
66 (61)
78 (77,2)
2024
65,6 - chosen by lot (60 - chosen by lot)
80,5 (72,5)
Marketing
2023
56 - chosen by lot (50,2)
66,2 (64)
2024
48 - chosen by lot
68,6
Supply Chain Management
2023
50,2 (46)
69,3 (64,8)
2024
50 - chosen by lot (48 - chosen by lot)
76,2 (72 - chosen by lot)
Chosen by lot means that not all applicants with the same score could be granted admission. It was chosen by lot among all applicants with this score.
Fees & financing
Application
There are fees for the admission test. Please inquire with the test providers about the current prices. If you have obtained your bachelor's degree outside Germany, please note the handling fees for uni-assist.
Study
There is only a social fee for studying at University of Cologne of approx. 320 € per semester including ticket for public transport. There are no tuition fees when studying abroad, but costs for rent, living expenses and learning materials must be paid by the student.
You can find information on financing your studies here.
Grade Conversion Tool
The conversion is a not binding official information, but provides orientation to convert your foreign grade into a German equivalent. The basis for this is the so-called modified Bavarian formula; you can find all information on this determined in the resolution of the Kultusministerkonferenz. You can only obtain an official conversion via uni-assist; please request your VPD as early as possible. Experience shows that the processing time is 8 weeks.
In the first field, enter the best grade that can be achieved in your university's grading system.; in the second field, the grade with which the examination is still considered to have been passed at your university; in the third field, your current overall grade.
The result is the equivalent of your grade according to the German grading system, in which 1,0 is the best grade and 4,0 is the grade with which an examination is just passed.
Please enter grades with decimal places, with a comma, e.g. 2,3.
