MA Social Work with a Focus on the Family

The degree program Social Work with a Focus on the Family will provide you with the specialized expertise necessary to become a counselor:

• Casework
• Group work
• Organizational consulting
• Policy consulting

The combination of practical experience as well as scientific expertise offers you, as graduates of the Master's Program in Social Work with a Focus on the Family the ideal prerequisites for:

• the development and management of projects
• the coordination of supporting organizations and professional associations
• administrative and managerial positions in the educational and social sectors, especially in state or non-state child/youth/family welfare institutions
• national, regional and municipal planning functions
• quality management and evaluation

As a graduate of the master's program in Social Work with a Focus on the Family, you can also find exciting career prospects outside of social institutions, for example in

• Continuing education and training
• Practice research
• Evaluation research
• Teaching
• Doctorate

Formal: For the Master's degree program in Social Work with a Focus on the Family, a first university degree qualifying for a profession with a total of 180 ECTS credits in the degree program in Social Work or Early Childhood Education or in a social science program with a proven connection to the degree program is required.

Also required is proof of relevant professional work related to the degree program of at least 15 hours per week, as well as a commitment to participate in externally offered supervision by recognized professionals totaling at least 20 hours during the entire degree program.

Personal: The degree program requires a strong interest in research-based knowledge discovery and cooperative work, as well as a willingness to engage in online-based learning during the self-study phases.

In addition to the online application, the following documents must be submitted in paper form:

• University degree certificate(s) and Diploma Supplement, if applicable.
• Essay (The essay should be 4 to 5 pages long and provide information on the motivation and identification with the chosen course of study as well as on the professional activity envisaged. In addition to the motivation for the degree program, the essay should include a detailed description of the applicant's professional career to date and the professional self-image that has been developed in the process).
• Curriculum vitae in tabular form
• Proof of the type, duration and location of the practical professional activity in the field of social work or in a field of work of education and upbringing in childhood.
• Proof of a relevant professional activity of at least 15 hours/week related to the family focus of the course of study.
• Declaration of readiness for self-financed supervision
• If applicable, proof of further education and training as well as own publications.

For submission, please use the supplementary sheet "Application documents to be submitted" on the last or penultimate page of your personal checklist, which is available at the end of the online application in the MyCampus university portal. This lists all the supporting documents that you must submit in paper form based on the information you provided in the online application. In addition, the checklist contains information on the rest of the procedure.

The day of the application deadline (receipt of mail at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam) applies for the submission of the documents.

Applicants who meet the admission requirements take part in the procedure for awarding study places. In the allocation procedure, the number of study places to be allocated is reduced by the following:

• Applications from applicants who were unable to accept earlier admission due to service and all applicants who are members of the national squad of a national sports federation of the German Olympic Sports Confederation.
• 11 % for applicants with a foreign university entrance qualification
• 3 % for applicants who are to be considered on the basis of hardship.

The remaining study places are allocated 90 % according to the result of a university selection procedure and 10 % according to waiting time. The result of the university selection procedure is determined on the basis of the following criteria (weighting in brackets):

• Grade of the university degree qualifying for the profession (40 %).
• Essay (30 %)
• Professional and other previous experience specific to the professional field (30 %).

Following the university selection procedure, the allocation procedure is carried out. Applicants with a correspondingly high ranking will receive a time-limited offer of admission in the MyCampus university portal, which you must actively accept. Once you have accepted the offer of admission, you will find your notification of admission in the MyCampus university portal. If you do not accept the offer of admission by the deadline, the ranking list will continue to be processed and the study place will be reallocated.

The enrollment application is submitted online at the MyCampus University Portal of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam. After entering the information required for enrollment, an enrollment application is created. This application must be signed and submitted to the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam by mail together with the university entrance qualification in paper form. Please refer to the enrollment application if you need to submit additional documents. The deadline for submission is the last day of the enrollment period. The date of receipt at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam is decisive.

There is a fee of 65 Euros per module for additional materials (total for 8 modules, 1-2 per semester).

There are various application procedures at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam. General information on application and enrollment procedures as well as information on part-time studies, guest auditors and second degree studies can be found on the general application pages.