Educational Alternatives, Volume 18, 2020

Abstract: Typically, dropout rates in engineering study programs are relatively high. The reason is that engineering courses are intellectually demanding and time consuming. These facts not only result in reduced study success but also discourage interested study applicants from enrolling in engineering study programs. As an alternative, young people who are doubtful about their intellectual performance decide for a vocational training instead of higher education. With the increasing lack of engineers in the last years, universities had to develop ideas how to motivate potential students to enroll in engineering programs and how to improve the graduation rates. The aim was to motivate interested young people not (only) to start a vocational training but (also) a university education. Thus, German universities developed a study course model, which combines higher education and vocational training (“Dualer Studiengang”). Normally, one university cooperates with one enterprise to educate its future staff in that study program. The Faculty of Civil Engineering at HTWK Leipzig developed a study model for a bachelor program in civil engineering, which allows to educate not only apprentices from one enterprise but from several interested practice partners. After an introduction, the paper gives an overview about the German study model “Dualer Studiengang” in general. The authors furthermore inform about the special study model Cooperative Study Model in Civil Engineering at HTWK Leipzig. They provide information about the implementation, facts and figures as well as experiences after running the program for around 10 years. The conclusion is that a cooperative education, which combines academic and vocational training, can be successful and may contribute to a reduction of the lack of qualified engineers.