Hochschule

Hochschule (German: [ˈhoːxˌʃuːlə], plural: Hochschulen) is the generic term in German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to universities and colleges in English. The term Universität (plural: Universitäten) is reserved for institutions with the right to confer doctorates. In contrast, Hochschule encompasses Universitäten as well as institutions that are not authorized to confer doctorates. Recently, several German Fachhochschulen were renamed as Hochschule.

Roughly equivalent terms to Hochschule are used in some other European countries, such as högskola in Scandinavia, and főiskola (literally "main school") in Hungary, as well as in post-Soviet countries (deriving from ), in Central Europe, in Bulgaria () and Romania.

The German education system knows two different types of universities, which do not have the same legal status. The term Hochschule can be used to refer to all institutions of higher education in Germany that confer academic degrees, that is both regular universities (Universitäten) and Fachhochschulen.

Rather than as an umbrella term, Hochschule is also increasingly used as a specialized term, i.e. for institutions that:

Institutions that are called Hochschule meet one or more of these criteria, which differentiate them from an Universität. In recent years, a number of German Fachhochschulen opted to name themselves Hochschule or Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften (university of applied sciences) rather than Fachhochschule. Additionally, there are specialized Hochschulen which focus on a particular set of disciplines, e.g., Kunsthochschulen (art schools), and share the same legal status as regular universities.

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