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Info events Master Social Work
We cordially invite all prospective students to our information events in the winter semester: These will take place on 06.11.2025 in presence & on 08.01.2026 online via Zoom.
At the information events, we will also provide information on the new admisson requirements: from now on, you can also apply for the Master's degree program in Social Work with a subject-related degree program. More also under → Application & admission
The social science-based Master's degree course in Social Work at the School of Business and Society is research-oriented. Interested students can research social work in its social-institutional (self-)integration, conflict and tension relationships together with committed lecturers. From a (domination) critical perspective, they analyze and reflect on these relationships and the positions of the actors within them and explore possibilities for transcending ideological and structural (self-)limitations.
Current far-reaching societal changes in regimes of domination restructuring and authoritarian regulation of societal conflicts, which must be analyzed again and again, affect people in their possibilities of a self-determined and participatory life practice. They also exacerbate the contradictions in which social work operates - often (re-)producing these contradictions. In particular, forms of social work that aim to strengthen people's ability to act in the realities of their lives are faced with new challenges as a result of these developments.
At the heart of the Master's degree course is an intensively supervised practical research project, which - in addition to deepening the ability of academic reflection - serves to address the students' own social work issues and interests. Research projects of interest to the field of social work are carried out here, the content of which can be found in the course catalogs and here. Other focal points of the degree programs are the theory modules on social work, on everyday life and the subject and on social conditions and interactions.
Teaching and studying at the Department of Social and Health Care at the School of Business and Society is embedded in a departmental culture that promotes reflexivity, the joy of discussion, constructive cooperation between students and lecturers as well as political participation and spaces for student involvement.
The structures of the degree program make it possible to adapt degree programs to personal study situations and to study individually and flexibly in this sense.
If you have any questions about the content of the degree program, please contact Prof. Dr. Jörg Reitzig .
Contents & Procedure
Course structure
The course is designed as a 3-semester full-time course . It is possible to study the degree programs in individually flexible models. For advice on this, please contact the Student Advisory Service (contact on the right-hand sidebar).
The course consists of 6 modules:
Module 1: Research and theory formation in social work
Module 2: Applied practice research
Module 3: Subject-oriented perspectives and social work
Module 4: Social, socio-political and institutional conditions and interactions of social work
Module 5: Social work as an institution and professional and scientific practice - reflection and opening up
Module 6: Master's thesis and social research
For the course-specific page for examination matters, please click here. Under this link you will also find the current editions of the General and Special Examination Regulations.
Qualification
The degree programs aims to deepen research and methodological skills as well as competencies in project development, project organization and implementation. Students carry out their own (practical research) projects and are closely supervised. By teaching skills in analysis, project organization and reflection, the degree programs qualifies students for work in social work institutions and associations, in social administration, non-profit organizations, universities of applied sciences and in the business sector and opens up access to higher service.
Reflection on the science and practice of social work prepares graduates for work, for example, as a specialist consultant, advisor or research assistant. Degree of the Master's degree program creates the prerequisite for the possibility of a doctorate.
Upon successful completion of the program, graduates are awarded the academic degree "Master of Arts (M.A.)".
Application & Admission
The "Apply" button will take you to a brief guide on how to register and apply.
If you are not sure which documents you need to upload to the portal, you will find an overview here:
General application forms:
Important for all those who have not yet completed their Bachelor's degree:
You must complete your Bachelor's degree within one semester of enrolling on the Master's degree program. Proof of this must be provided in the form of suitable documents (overview of successfully completed and outstanding credits) by the end of the application deadline.
- The amount of outstanding work must not exceed 30 credit points.
- Proof must be provided at the time of application that they have already registered the final thesis for the undergraduate degree programs.
Admisson requirements
The consecutive Master's degree program in Social Work requires a 210 ECTS first professionally qualifying university degree (Bachelor's degree; Diplom) in a degree program in Social Work or a related degree program. Related degree programs can be, for example, degree programs in social pedagogy or educational science.
Applicants with such a degree with less than 210 ECTS can be admitted to the degree program if missing competencies can be compensated by academic or non-academic achievements at Bachelor's level. At the same time, it must be ensured that applicants have 300 ECTS credits upon graduation from the Master's degree program.
Missing competencies can be compensated for by academic or non-academic achievements amounting to a maximum of 30 ECTS. Proof can be provided by
passed modules from the Bachelor's degree program in Social Work at HWG, provided they were not already part of the content of the first university degree or
a qualified work certificate for at least one year of uninterrupted full-time professional practice in the field of social work after obtaining the first university degree as well as a detailed typewritten letter* accompanying the qualified work certificate submitted by the applicant; (in the case of part-time employment, the required duration of professional activity is extended according to the scope of employment) or
a successfully completed further training course of at least 900 hours in the field of social work after obtaining the first university degree, e.g. proof of state recognition as a social pedagogue/social worker, which was obtained outside the Bachelor's degree program or proof of completed further training (at least at B.A. level) or
Combinations of 1., 2. and 3.
*Information on the cover letter:
- The cover letter should firstly present the additional qualifications, knowledge and skills acquired in the professional field at Bachelor's level as clearly and comprehensibly as possible.
- Secondly, it should document that the applicant is able to reflexively evaluate the above-mentioned experience in a professional context and classify it from a social science perspective.
- It should comprise approx. 6000 characters and, if required for admission, must be submitted to the university together with the other required application documents.
The application procedures for the Master's degree program in Social Work (M.A.) were administratively simplified in the summer semester 2020. By lifting the admission restriction, it is possible for applicants who meet the admisson requirements and submit all application documents in full and on time to be enrolled directly onto the degree programs.
The team at the Student Service Center (SSC) looks forward to meeting you
The SSC staff responsible for application management advise prospective students on all aspects of the application process. They are the right people to contact for all questions relating to application and admission/access to studies at the Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society.
E-mail: ssc-bewerbung@ 8< SPAM protection, please remove >8 hwg-lu.de
Telephone: +49 621 5203-0
For subject-related questions, please get in touch with the relevant contact person for your desired degree program.
Opening hours of the SSC
Mon. and Tue.
09:30 - 12:00
Thu
09:30 - 12:00 and 14:00 - 16:30
Wed and Fri
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