Second Degree in Germany: Your Options With a Degree in Hand

Three ways to study in Germany when you already have a degree

A second bachelor’s is allowed in Germany. A change of subject at postgraduate level runs through a non-consecutive or continuing-education master’s. A top-up into the final year of a German bachelor’s does not exist. Which route fits you is decided by what your first qualification is, not by what you want to study next.

If you hold a completed bachelor’s from a recognised African university, the master’s route is the default and the cheapest. A master’s at a public university is free in tuition, runs 1–2 years, and a 180-ECTS three-year degree pairs with a 120-ECTS master’s. Changing field sits inside that route.

If you hold a Higher National Diploma rather than a degree, you are applying for a full bachelor’s of 3–4 years, not for its last year.

A second bachelor’s is the right answer in one situation: your first degree does not qualify you for the regulated profession you now want, and no master’s in that field will admit you.

For everyone else our default advice is the master’s route — shorter, free at most public universities, and the only route where a recognised African bachelor’s is accepted on its own terms.

A second bachelor’s in Germany

A second bachelor’s is permitted: yes. The complication is which queue you stand in. In admission-restricted subjects, German universities set aside a small share of first-semester places for Zweitstudium applicants and rank them by a Messzahl built from the grade of the first degree and the reason given for the second. That quota counts only degrees awarded in the EU or EEA, so a Nigerian, Kenyan or Moroccan bachelor’s does not enter it. You apply through the ordinary international quota instead, on the same terms as an applicant with no degree at all — simpler, and no priority for what you already hold.

Money behaves differently at this level too. Most states charge nothing extra — €0–650 per semester covers the national picture, and the top of that band is Baden-Württemberg, the only state that bills a second or further degree. There it sits on top of the non-EU tuition already charged, so a second bachelor’s at the University of Freiburg means €3,000 per year plus the Zweitstudium fee. Teacher-training programmes are exempt. Credit for what you have already studied is decided by the receiving university case by case; no national rule guarantees you a single semester off.

Changing field with a conversion master’s

Germany has no conversion master’s in the British sense. No separate conversion-master category. A subject change runs through a non-consecutive master, or a weiterbildender (continuing-education) master, which as a rule requires at least one year of qualified professional experience (KMK Musterrechtsverordnung § 5(1), § 11(3)). Consecutive masters may admit related bachelors with make-up modules set by the programme's own admission regulations; no national rule fixes their size.

In practice that leaves two doors. A non-consecutive master’s at a public university is usually still free and runs 1–2 years; a continuing-education master’s is built for career changers, asks for work experience and charges. English-taught choice is wide at this level. TU Darmstadt lists 22 English master’s at free, the Free University of Berlin 25 at free and RWTH Aachen 16 at free. Paying options exist where the subject fit is better: Tübingen lists 35 at €1,500 per semester, and CODE University in Berlin runs 2 at €650–1,250 per month, accepting a bachelor’s from any country plus professional experience. Read the admission regulations of the exact programme, not the university’s general page: make-up modules are set there, and they decide how long your change of field takes. Programme types and deadlines sit on our Germany master’s degrees page.

HND and diploma holders: top-up routes

No top-up year exists. A recognised diploma gives entry to a full bachelor, not to its final year: a Ghanaian Higher National Diploma gives direct subject-restricted admission to a Fachhochschule only, a Nigerian HND (Higher Technician Diploma) direct subject-restricted admission in the subject named on the certificate (ZAB/anabin). Credit for prior study is decided case by case by the receiving university; the KMK requires that a substantial part of the degree be earned at the awarding institution.

The realistic plan for a diploma holder is therefore a full bachelor’s of 3–4 years. What the diploma does buy is entry itself: it replaces the Studienkolleg and the Feststellungsprüfung a school certificate alone would require, in the subject area you already studied. Ask the receiving department in writing for an Anrechnung decision before you accept an offer, because credit granted after enrolment is rarer than credit agreed before it. Among 422 recognised institutions the answer differs by faculty, so ask more than one. Any agent promising “direct entry into final year” in Germany is describing something that does not exist — our how to spot a fake agent page lists the other claims worth walking away from.

Visa, age and funding for a second degree

No German rule bars a second degree at a level you have already completed. The § 16b study permit asks for three things: admission to a German programme, proof of funds of €11,904 per year, and a purpose of stay the mission finds plausible. The first two are documents; the third is judgement, and it is where a second degree is tested, because German missions list doubts about genuine study intent among their refusal reasons. Write the study plan so the sequence makes sense on paper: what the first degree did not cover, why this one does, what you do with both. The document set is on our Germany student visa requirements page, the blocked account on our proof of funds page.

Age is not a barrier: none. Cost quietly is. Statutory student insurance at €141–146 per month runs only to the semester in which you turn thirty; private cover after that is priced by the insurer. Funding narrows too: DAAD’s EPOS programme funds postgraduate courses only and asks for professional experience after the first degree, so it cannot pay for a second bachelor’s. Erasmus Mundus is master’s-level, covers tuition in full and pays €1,400 per month. Work rights are unchanged by a degree already held: 140 full days or 280 half days per year (≈20 h/week), with no separate permit. Scheme rules sit on our Germany scholarships page.

How to apply with a degree in hand

1. Have the qualification you already hold assessed. Recognition runs through uni-assist + Anabin; WAEC scratch card for Nigeria/Ghana, and an apostille is needed: yes. An APS certificate is required: no.
2. Choose the route the assessment allows — master’s, second bachelor’s, or a full bachelor’s on a diploma — before shortlisting.
3. Shortlist programmes and check the fee at that exact university. Compare institutions on our German universities page and budgets on our cost of studying in Germany page.
4. Sit the language test the programme names. National floors are IELTS 6 for a bachelor’s and 6.5 for a master’s; programmes often ask for more.
5. Apply through uni-assist (most universities) at https://www.uni-assist.de/, paying €75. Intakes are Winter (October), Summer (April); deadlines 15 July (winter) / 15 January (summer) for a bachelor’s, 15 July / 15 January (many earlier) for a master’s.
6. On the admission letter, prove the money: a blocked account of €11,904 per year, an annually renewable bank guarantee, or a formal obligation letter from a German resident.
7. Book the visa appointment and file the study plan with it. The fee is €75; processing runs 4–12 weeks.
8. Enrol on arrival, pay the semester contribution of €100–400 per semester, then register your address and health insurance.