Further Education: Germany

In Germany, further education involves different educational activities that are focused on specific target groups in the broad field of adult education (adult learners). In contrast to other countries and educational systems, further education in Germany is not mainly offered by universities or affiliated institutions. A large proportion is delivered by public and private institutions (the so-called Erwachsenenbildungsträger, or adult education providers), which have been offering adult education programs for everyone (no admission requirements) since the beginning of the 20th century. While these institutions offer quite a broad scale of programs and training in different fields (mainly not only general further training but also vocational training) for learners with different educational biographies (with and without academic degrees), further education at German universities is still mainly ...