Wirtschaftsakademie Schleswig-Holstein GmbH
Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
- Founded
- 1967
- Students
- 512
- International
- 3%
About WAK SH
Wirtschaftsakademie Schleswig-Holstein GmbH (WAK SH) is a non-profit limited company based in Kiel, supported by the Chambers of Industry and Commerce of Flensburg, Kiel and Lübeck. Founded in 1967 as the Verein Höhere Wirtschaftsfachschule in Kiel e.V., renamed Wirtschaftsakademie Schleswig-Holstein e.V. in 1971 and later converted into a gemeinnützige GmbH, it has grown into the largest education provider in the German IHK network's northern group: in 2024 it employed 189 staff plus roughly 600 freelance instructors, taught 12,465 participants at nine education centres, ran four guest houses with 392 beds, and managed five subsidiary companies. Its own portfolio covers higher vocational education (Fachwirt, Meister), IHK certificate courses, company training programmes and publicly funded labour-market projects. WAK SH does not award academic degrees under its own name: its higher-education arm is the Duale Hochschule Schleswig-Holstein (DHSH), a private state-recognized University of Applied Sciences founded in January 2018 out of WAK SH's Berufsakademie of 1974, which remains under WAK SH Trägerschaft. The DHSH offers dual bachelor's degrees in Business Administration (B.A.), Business Information Systems (B.Sc.), Software Engineering (B.Sc.) and Social Work (B.A.) plus the part-time master's Digital Business & Innovation (M.A., first graduates 2022) at study locations in Kiel, Lübeck and Flensburg; the corporate group also includes the Kleemannschulen, the Akademie für Gesundheits- und Sozialberufe (AGS), the Institut für angewandte Forschung, JobB GmbH and SGW.
Founded 1967; today a gemeinnützige GmbH supported by the IHKs Flensburg, Kiel and Lübeck
12,465 participants in 2024 across nine education centres, with 189 employees plus around 600 freelance instructors
Its Berufsakademie (founded 1974) became the state-recognized Duale Hochschule Schleswig-Holstein (DHSH) in January 2018, still under WAK SH ownership
DHSH institutionally accredited (Wissenschaftsrat) and program-accredited (ZEvA / Akkreditierungsrat seal)
Degrees at DHSH: dual B.A./B.Sc. in BWL, Wirtschaftsinformatik, Software Engineering and Soziale Arbeit, plus part-time M.A. Digital Business & Innovation (first graduates 2022)
Corporate group includes Kleemannschulen, AGS, Institut für angewandte Forschung, JobB GmbH and SGW (KüstenKost)
Four guest houses with 392 beds serve seminar and block-course participants statewide
Key facts
- Founded
- 1967
- Students
- 512
- International
- ~3% international students (ETER report year 2023: 2.8%)
- Faculties
- 3
Admissions & fees
What it costs
As a non-profit company course fees vary by program. For the dual study programs at DHSH, monthly tuition of EUR 390 (Business Administration) and EUR 398 (Business Information Systems) was set at the DHSH's 2018 launch and is normally borne by the cooperating companies, which additionally pay students an apprentice salary; figures may have changed since publication.
Admission requirements
Admission depends on the offering: higher vocational programs (Fachwirt, Meister, IHK certificates) build on completed vocational training and work experience, with free information sessions before enrolment. For the dual bachelor's programs at DHSH, applicants need a university entrance qualification and must win a study/training contract with one of the cooperating partner companies (e.g. EDEKA Nord, Provinzial, PwC, Sparkasse), which select candidates directly and pay a salary; applications run through the DHSH MatchMaker platform.
Application deadlines
Degree cohorts (at subsidiary Duale Hochschule Schleswig-Holstein, DHSH) start every year on 1 October. There is no central application deadline: candidates first apply to one of the cooperating practice companies - directly or via the DHSH MatchMaker platform - which select applicants on a rolling basis; once a company accepts a candidate, the DHSH checks formal admission (university entrance qualification or recognized alternative).
How international applicants apply
Dual model via practice partner - no uni-assist. Degrees are taken at the subsidiary Duale Hochschule Schleswig-Holstein (DHSH): candidates apply FIRST to one of the cooperating practice companies - directly or bundled to several partners via the DHSH MatchMaker platform ('In beiden Faellen erfolgt die Bewerbung zuerst bei den Unternehmen und Einrichtungen'); cohorts start 1 October. After a company accepts the candidate, the DHSH checks formal admission (Abitur/Fachhochschulreife, qualified further education, or vocational qualification plus aptitude exam; a study+training contract with the practice partner is required). Not on the uni-assist member list.
Languages of instruction
German - continuing-education courses and the dual degree programs at DHSH are taught in German.
Student accommodation
What WAK SH publishes about housing. German universities do not allocate rooms themselves, so the links below are where applications actually go.
The university's housing page
Deadlines and application forms are published here, and they change every intake.
Open housing pageFrom the university
Dual students at DHSH can take places in WAK SH dormitories ('Wohnheime') in Kiel, Lübeck and Flensburg - a significant advantage on the region's tight housing market - and use the library, student representation and alumni association.
Campuses & locations
Hans-Detlev-Prien-Straße 10, 24106 Kiel
Kiel, Lübeck, Flensburg, Neumünster, Husum, Bad Segeberg, Itzehoe, Elmshorn and Norderstedt
Living in Kiel
Kiel, the state capital of Schleswig-Holstein on the Baltic coast, hosts the headquarters alongside the maritime economy and Kiel University. The other education centres span the whole federal state from Flensburg on the Danish border to Norderstedt on the Hamburg rim, keeping vocational and dual-study provision regionally accessible.
Student life & support
Dual students at DHSH can take places in WAK SH dormitories ('Wohnheime') in Kiel, Lübeck and Flensburg - a significant advantage on the region's tight housing market - and use the library, student representation and alumni association. International exposure comes through Erasmus+ and a summer school in Cork, Ireland. Continuing-education participants can stay at the organisation's four guest houses with 392 beds attached to the education centres.
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