Studying While Working: Continuing Your Education Without Putting Your Career on Hold

Do you want to further your academic education without giving up your job? Studying while working makes exactly that possible: You can expand your qualifications while continuing to fulfill your professional responsibilities. Zeppelin University (ZU) deliberately focuses on the master’s level for its part-time degree programs and offers a program for working professionals who want to further their education while continuing to work.

• Format: A part-time program with intensive on-campus sessions instead of full-time on-campus study, designed to fit around your job.
• Degree: A full-fledged, state-recognized master’s degree (Master of Science) from ZU—not a certificate program.
• Target audience: Working professionals from all fields with a first university degree and at least one year of professional experience.
• Duration: Approximately two years while working, organized in compact block weeks.
• Learning environment: Small cohorts of about 10 to 15 participants for genuine peer-to-peer exchange.
• Costs: Tuition fees apply. These can be financed through installment payments, scholarships, student loans, or employer contributions, and are often tax-deductible.

You can find all the details about the program on the page for the part-time Master’s in Management.

Studying while working means organizing your studies so that they are compatible with a full-time job, rather than attending classes on campus full-time. A part-time degree program therefore focuses on predictable class formats and content that you can apply directly. This allows you to continue working in your current profession while earning additional qualifications at the same time—whether you want to advance in your current field or pursue a new career path.

A degree program for working professionals is particularly beneficial if you’re already employed and want to prepare for the next step in your career—such as moving into a leadership or project management role.

Typical Starting points:

• You have a bachelor’s or master’s degree and want to build on your management skills, even if your first degree was in a different field.

• You’re taking on more and more responsibility and want to underpin your practical experience with academically grounded knowledge.

• You’d like to pursue a new career path without giving up your income and professional experience to pursue full-time studies.

Those who wish to study while working will find that well-structured programs offer the predictability needed to confidently balance their studies and their job.

Whether a part-time degree program can be easily balanced with a job depends on several factors: from the format of the classes to the degree and the financing.

• Organization of on-campus sessions: Blocked-in weeks of classes are usually easier to balance with a job than fixed weekly sessions.

• Recognized degree: An accredited program ensures recognition and can even pave the way to a Ph.D.

• Personalized learning environment: Small cohorts of about 10 to 15 participants foster genuine interaction rather than anonymous, large-scale classes.

• Suitable financing: Options such as installment payments, scholarships, or employer-sponsored funding provide flexibility.

The part-time master’s program at Zeppelin University is designed precisely with these points in mind.

Zeppelin University deliberately focuses its programs for working professionals on the master’s level. The Executive Master in Management (M.Sc.), with the overarching theme “Advancing Sustainable Change,” is designed for graduates from all disciplines who wish to assume leadership or project management roles. It combines traditional management theory with insights from psychology, sociology, and practical philosophy.

What sets the program apart:

• Compact block format: Approximately 60 days of in-person instruction, spread out over the entire duration of the program and easily scheduled alongside a full-time job.

• International focus: The language of instruction is English, supplemented by an international study phase (International Academy).

• An alternative to the MBA: A research-oriented Master of Science instead of a traditional MBA, leading to a fully recognized, accredited university degree.

• Small, diverse cohorts: Intensive support and interaction with professionals from a wide variety of industries and disciplines.

• Requirements: A first university degree (in any field) and at least one year of professional experience.

All modules, dates, and application information: Executive Master in Management | MGMT

For companies looking to develop entire teams, ZU also offers custom-designed continuing education programs. Learn more on the ZU Executive Education website

The cost of studying while working consists of tuition and additional expenses such as travel and housing during in-person sessions. As a private foundation university, Zeppelin University charges tuition fees. In return, it offers conditions that are rare at public universities: small classes, close faculty supervision, and programs consistently tailored to working professionals.

There are several financing options available, which can also be combined. Tuition fees can be paid in installments in coordination with ZU Executive Education. Many employers contribute to the costs—after all, they benefit directly from the knowledge gained through the program—so it’s almost always worth talking to your manager. Scholarships and student loans are also options for working professionals. Important to know: BAföG is not available for part-time master’s programs.

The “Scholarships & Student Financing ” page on the Zeppelin University website provides an overview of all options.

Yes, if the format is right. What matters most isn’t so much the sheer number of hours as the predictability: If you know the in-person session dates for the entire duration of your studies in advance, you can coordinate your vacation and project planning accordingly early on. Three tips based on experience make it even easier to balance your studies with work. Involve your employer early on, because if you’re open about your studies, you can often offset in-person sessions through educational leave, special leave, or flexible work schedules. Schedule your self-study time between blocks with fixed time slots in your calendar, like a recurring appointment with yourself. And integrate your studies and job wherever possible: case studies, project work, and your thesis can often be linked to issues within your own company, so that every academic achievement pays off twice.

A part-time master’s program lasts 21 months. The Executive Master in Management at Zeppelin University is organized into one-week instruction blocks, making it easy to balance the program with full-time employment.

Yes. The part-time master’s program at Zeppelin University is an accredited university degree (Master of Science) and is therefore formally equivalent to a degree earned through full-time study. As one of the few private universities in Germany, ZU also has the right to grant doctoral degrees, meaning that the Master’s degree qualifies students to pursue a subsequent doctoral degree.

Yes. The Executive Master’s in Management is specifically designed for graduates from a wide range of disciplines, from engineering to the humanities to medicine. Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree and at least one year of professional experience. A preparatory course at the start of the program provides the necessary foundational knowledge in economics.

No. ZU deliberately focuses on the master’s level for its part-time programs because this is where professional experience and academic study benefit each other the most. ZU’s bachelor’s programs are full-time, on-campus programs located on Lake Constance.

There is no single “best” degree program, because the answer depends on your goals. However, there are clear quality indicators you can use as a guide: program accreditation, a full university degree rather than a certificate, a teaching format that’s truly compatible with your job, small learning groups with personalized support , and the opportunity to pursue a Ph.D. after completing your master’s degree. The Executive Master in Management at Zeppelin University meets all these criteria: It is accredited, leads to a Master of Science degree, is taught in block weeks that allow for easy planning, limits class sizes to 10 to 15 participants, and qualifies graduates to pursue a Ph.D. ZU is also one of the state-recognized private universities with a very high recommendation rate from its students.

Part-time master’s programs are offered by public universities, universities of applied sciences, distance-learning universities, and private universities. More important than proximity to your place of residence is the format of instruction: With a block-week model, you only travel to campus for the intensive in-person sessions, so the study location can be easily accessible even from outside the region. At Zeppelin University, you ’ll study part-time on the campus in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance, right in the heart of the four-country region bordering Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. You can find all the information about the program structure and the application process on the page for the part-time Master’s in Management.