Accreditation

The Hertie School of Governance is an accredited and state-recognised institution of higher education in Germany.

In 1949 the Grundgesetz (German Basic Law) was ratified by all West German Länder (states). Article 30 of the Grundgesetz laid the foundation for the Länder to have sole authority over their respective education systems. In later years the federal government was able to exert influence on higher education policy through the Hochschulrahmengesetz (University Framework Law), but only on a limited scale. Thus, to this day, responsibility for higher education in Germany lies primarily with the Länder while the federal government only plays a minor role.

On the basis of the Berliner Hochschulgesetz (Higher Education Act of the State of Berlin) the Hertie School of Governance became state recognized through the Senatsverwaltung für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kultur (Berlin Ministry for Science, Research, and Culture) from February, 2005 till December, 2008. This process gave the Hertie School the status of an institution of higher learning and the authority to award the master degrees.

As a condition for the recognition, the Senatsverwaltung stipulated that the Hertie School must undergo an institutional evaluation through the Wissenschaftsrat (German Council of Science and Humanities) by December 31, 2008 to receive an extension of the state recognition. Thus, in 2007 the Hertie School submitted a progress report to the Senatsverwaltung, who in turn forwarded it the Wissenschaftsrat for evaluation.

The evaluation took approximately one year to complete and was published November 7, 2008. It was based on the submitted progress report and an on-site visit. It stated that the Hertie School “has had a remarkable development since its founding in 2003. Furthermore, it has managed to establish international and practical oriented degree programmes and develop an exemplary mentoring relationship between professors and students.”
The duration of the accreditation by the Wissenschaftsrat is set for five years and entitles the Hertie School to be an independent university with the title of a wissenschaftliche Hochschule (research based institution of higher learning). Based on the evaluation, the Berlin Senate has extended the state recognition of the Hertie School to 31st December 2013.