Credit Accreditation for Studies Abroad
General Information
For every student of International Business, a semester abroad is a highly valuable experience. You will improve your language skills, acquire intercultural competences, experience a different system of higher education and broaden your understanding for your studies, International Business in particular.
Moreover, if planned appropriately, your stay abroad should also count for the completion of your home degree in Tübingen. An essential issue in this regard is whether, or to what extent, the credits earned abroad can be transferred to your home degree.
We strongly suggest that you leave for your exchange semester/year only after the interim exams ("Zwischenprüfung"). This implies you should be going on exchange between your 5th and your 7th semester. You cannot, under any circumstances, transfer any credits towards the interim exams.
There are two types of possible credit transfers: A course taken abroad can be accepted as a substitute for a certain course offered at Tübingen University, if both course syllabi are very similar. This implies that no further credits can be earned by attending the home degree course.
Alternatively, a course taken abroad may be accredited as a complement for local offerings. This does not entail any restrictions regarding the credits that you may earn on home degree courses.
Application for Credit Transfer
After your return to Tübingen, you can apply for credit transfer. Your application has to include the following:
- the course syllabus
- the "gelber Laufzettel" (examination office)
- your grade transcripts
- the assessment report (you can download the report here) completed by your teacher abroad (if possible)
A final decision about credit transfer cannot be made before your return to Tübingen University, as in many cases the available information before the course completion will be incomplete. Applications will be accepted only after your return. However we offer to assist you in choosing courses that are likely to be accredited in our focus module before your stay abroad. Please send your request including the course descriptions to
Please do not submit an application to the DoIB unless the courses you have taken abroad are specifically International Business courses. The most important criteria for accreditation in our focus module "International Business" is a clear international/ global/ intercultural focus of your courses. Please note, the simple fact that you took a course abroad, does not make the course itself international!
In other cases you should seek credit transfer with departments of the relevant subject area.
Please send your documents to:
drop them into our mailbox or bring them along during the opening hours of the secretariat.
