Who is the Bachelor's Distance Learning Course in Business Psychology Suitable For?

The distance learning course in Business Psychology at the Hamburg Distance University of Applied Sciences is aimed at individuals who want to work at the interface between psychology and business. You are addressed if you want to apply psychological knowledge specifically in a business context – for example, in human resource management, management consulting, marketing, health management, or related fields. You can also start the course as a lateral entrant without the traditional university entrance qualification, provided you can demonstrate the relevant practical experience and, if applicable, pass an entrance exam. The study model is well suited if you want to combine study with work or family commitments flexibly.

What Formal Admission Requirements Apply?

For admission to the Bachelor's degree programme in Business Psychology, you have various options:

• (Technical) University Entrance Qualification: With a general, subject-specific or technical university entrance qualification, you are admitted directly. In the case of a subject-specific university entrance qualification, the subject binding must match the course of study.
• Study Without A-Level Certificate: Without a (technical) university entrance qualification, you can be admitted if you
  • have successfully completed a recognised advanced professional training and have a fee-based advisory interview,
  • or have completed a relevant vocational training and worked for at least two years in a relevant professional field. In this case, you must also pass a written entrance examination as part of an audit student enrolment in two course-relevant modules.
• No Numerus Clausus (NC): There are no admission restrictions due to a numerus clausus or waiting semesters.

You do not need any special knowledge of mathematics or English. The teaching materials are written in German. Mathematical basics are refreshed in the statistics module and English skills are advantageous for later professional practice but not mandatory for the course at HFH.

For a successful course of study, you should bring the following personal prerequisites:

• You are willing to work independently through self-study and to organise yourself regularly.
• You have an interest in human behaviour in an economic context and in interdisciplinary issues.
• Analytical thinking as well as communication and teamwork skills are helpful.
• Since parts of the course take place in presence (e.g. complex exercises), you should be willing to travel and be able to engage with personal or virtual seminars.
• An average weekly study time of around 25 hours should realistically be planned to complete the course within the standard period of study.

What content does a Bachelor's degree in Business Psychology teach you?

In the Bachelor's degree programme in Business Psychology at HFH · Hamburger Fern-Hochschule, you engage with the interplay between human experience and economic processes. You learn how to reconcile economic goals with human goals, analyse the behaviour of employees and customers, and develop tools to support performance and organisational change. The programme provides you with fundamentals in psychology, business administration, and scientific methods. Important subject areas include:

• General Psychology and Social Psychology: Basics of human experience and behaviour
• Business Administration Fundamentals: Corporate management, organisation, marketing
• Empirical Research Methods: Statistics, diagnostics, academic work
• Practice-oriented Management Competences: Personnel development, change management, health promotion
• Consulting Techniques: Mediation, communication, consulting methods

From the fourth or fifth semester onwards, you choose two out of four possible specialisations and deepen your knowledge in application-oriented topics:

• Personnel Psychology: Personnel marketing, recruiting, aptitude diagnostics, personnel development
• Organisational Psychology: Organisational diagnostics, organisational development, leadership psychology
• Work and Health Psychology: Work analysis, corporate health management, health psychology
• Market, Advertising and Media Psychology: Consumer behaviour, advertising effectiveness, media effects, psychological market research

Additionally, you can complete certificate modules in areas such as emergency psychology or leadership psychology. A focus of the programme lies in acquiring methodological competence: You learn to apply psychological and business methods to problem situations in companies, plan your own research projects, and work empirically. This prepares you in a practical way for various fields of activity at the intersection of business and humans.