Philosophy, M.A.
The Master's degree program in Philosophy is a consecutive study program with a standard duration of four semesters and a total workload of 120 ECTS credits. The program can be started in the winter semester and leads to the academic degree Master of Arts (M.A.).
Programme facts
| Degree | Master of Arts (M.A.) |
|---|---|
| Duration | 4 semesters, 120 ECTS |
| Language of instruction | German |
| Required German | C1 |
| Study mode | Full-Time |
| Start | Winter semester, summer semester |
| Application | Via uni-assist, winter semester until 14.06, summer semester until 15.01 |
| Admission | Admission restriction (NC): a competition of school grades |
| Tuition fee | €0 per semester for international students |
| Semester contribution | €381.80 per semester |
What the tuition fee consists of
Will I get in
The programme has an admission restriction: the average grade of your certificate, converted to the German scale, decides. The cut-off changes every year — last year's value shows the order of magnitude, not a promise.
How the selection works and how strong the competition is — we go through it against your certificate when we select programmes for you.
Programme selection →About the programme
Teaching and research at our institute are strongly characterized by a systematic interest in solving philosophical problems, and great importance is placed on argumentative clarity in courses, including when reconstructing positions from the history of philosophy. Hermeneutic, post-structuralist, and phenomenological questions and methodologies play a significantly smaller role at our institute. Before applying for a philosophy degree program at HU, you should consider which areas of philosophy particularly interest you and whether these interests are sufficiently covered by the institute’s teaching offerings. For this purpose, you may, for example, review the profiles of the teaching staff on our website. Looking at course catalogs from previous semesters can also be helpful in determining whether the research focus of our institute matches your interests.
What you study
The degree program is divided into a compulsory section, a subject-specific elective section, and an interdisciplinary elective section.
The full curriculum and the programme's parameters are part of programme selection: we compare them with your profile.
Pick programmesCareer
The study of philosophy does not prepare students for a single specific profession. However, it particularly qualifies graduates for career fields that require strong analytical and communicative skills combined with a high level of reflective thinking. These include areas such as political and management consulting, journalism, and public relations. A graduate survey conducted by the German Society for Philosophy (DGPhil) provides insights into current career paths of philosophy graduates.
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Career prospects largely depend on the professional path chosen after graduation. Those who pursue an academic career usually have a clearly defined path ahead, but must be prepared to compete with many other applicants. For those choosing other paths, it is important to think about career goals early and gain practical experience during their studies through internships and student assistant positions. In addition, the Career Center offers practice-oriented courses.
Cost of study
| Tuition fee of the federal state (Berlin), international students | €0 |
|---|---|
| Semester contribution | €381.80 |
Requirements and application
| Previous education | A bachelor's degree in a related field. |
|---|---|
| Language | German C1 — confirmed by a certificate when you apply |
| Application | Via uni-assist, winter semester until 14.06, summer semester until 15.01 |
The procedure and the set of documents depend on your certificate. We check the university's requirements against your documents and give you a list: what to submit, how to certify and translate it, where and when to apply.
Check the requirementsHow to get into this programme
- 1Check your certificate and its recognitionDirect admission, a year at a university at home, or Studienkolleg first — this decides the whole plan.
- 2German up to C1 and a certificateDSH or TestDaF has to be passed before you apply.
- 3Documents and translationsCertified translations of the certificate and transcript, an APS if required. 3–4 weeks.
- 4Application via uni-assist until 15.01uni-assist checks documents for 4–6 weeks — send them well before the deadline.
- 5Admission, visa, movingPlan 2–3 months for the visa and the blocked account in parallel.
How to apply
You can submit the application yourself or with our help — the university decides on admission in both cases.
Applications go through the university's portal or uni-assist. Typical mistakes:
- ×incorrectly made certified copies and translations
- ×a wrong set of documents
- ×the application submitted the wrong way
- ×errors or gaps in the application form
- ×the application submitted at the wrong time — too early or too late
An incomplete or incorrectly prepared application is excluded from the selection — it can no longer be corrected after the deadline.
StudyInFocus does not represent the university and does not influence the admission decision. We do not sell study places and do not guarantee admission — this is a service for preparing and submitting documents on the applicant's side.
If your level is not enough yet
The two most common stoppers are a language level below the requirement and a certificate without direct admission. Both can be solved, but they take months — plan them now, not after a rejection.
Questions about this programme
How much does the programme cost?
What language level do I need?
When do I need to apply?
Don't postpone the application
The deadline is 15.01.2027 (93 days left). Language, translations and the document check take months, not weeks. In 30 minutes we will build a plan backwards from the deadline and tell you honestly whether you can make it.