Bachelor of Arts in Politics, Administration & International Relations | PAIR
Ranking, accreditation and awards
ZU's attitude towards rankings is simple: Rather than just believe what you read, it's best to come and see for yourself. However, failing this, you can find out more below about the rankings in which our Politics, Administration & International Relations programs have featured to date:
CHE College Rankings 2021
In the 2021/22 CHE (Center for University Development) Rankings, ZU was once again ranked right at the top. In the field of political science, the ZU study program in Politics, Administration and International Relations (PAIR) was among the best-ranked of all German universities and colleges in both the bachelor's and master's study programs.
The CHE attests to the PAIR study program's overall “excellent study conditions” for students. It also receives numerous very good ratings, including for the support provided by the lecturers, the support at the beginning of the course and during the course of study, as well as for studying abroad, the range of courses offered, the organization of the course, the examinations and the academic relevance, and also the equipment provided.
This is now the fourth time that the CHE College Rankings have examined ZU's political and administrative sciences. The study program had already achieved top rankings among all German universities and colleges in 2011/12 and 2015, as well as in 2018/19.
CHE College Rankings 2018
In the 2018/19 CHE (Center for University Development) Rankings, ZU was once again ranked right at the top. In the Political Sciences bracket, both our bachelor's and master's programs in Politics, Administration & International Relations (PAIR) were some of the highest-rated among all of the universities and colleges in Germany. In 16 of 17 categories, PAIR was in the leading group, thus making it the country's number one political science study program.
CHE College Rankings 2015
In the 2014/15 CHE (Center for University Development) Rankings, ZU was once again ranked among Germany's best universities and colleges.
As regards the results of the Politics, Administration & International Relations study program, our Politics and Administration course achieved third place nationally, thus trumping the fourth-place finish achieved in 2008's rankings. This placed ZU ahead of the Universities of Constance, Heidelberg and Potsdam, amongst others.
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CHE College Rankings 2012
In the 2011/12 CHE University Rankings, Zeppelin University once again placed among Germany's top universities and colleges. Our Politics, Administration & International Relations program was rated as the 4th best in the country (up from 5th the previous year).
The results
The Politics & Administrative Sciences program ranked in 4th place nationally, and moved up one place compared to the 2008 rankings. ZU thus placed ahead of FU Berlin and the University of Potsdam, among others.
The methodology
In the CHE College Rankings, one third of the subjects are evaluated every year on a rotating basis. This particular year it is the turn of the legal, economic and social sciences as well as media studies, communication studies and social work. The ranking is considered the most comprehensive and detailed of its kind in German-speaking countries, and is also being implemented in other countries. More than 300 universities and technical colleges were assessed in the process. Alongside data on the study program, teaching approach, equipment, and research, the ranking also factors in the opinions of more than 250,000 students relating to the study conditions at their university. The weekly newspaper “DIE ZEIT” publishes selected data about the students' evaluations, about research indicators and about the universities' reputations and their facilities in their “ZEIT Studienführer 2011/12” (“ZEIT study guide 2011/12”).
More about the rankings
U-Multirank International College Rankings
In the new “U-Multirank” EU college rankings, Zeppelin University (ZU) performed outstandingly. Thus the results of the most recent CHE Rankings were also confirmed on an international level.
In contrast to previous rankings, the new international ranking not only investigates the students' satisfaction with their study conditions, but also the universities' level of efficiency in various other areas. In the U-Multirank, top marks were awarded to ZU in the areas of study and teaching, as well as research.
Among the areas to be rated as “very good” in the bracket for Corporate Management & Economics study programs were the overall quality of the courses and teaching, the students' learning experience, the research orientation of the study programs, the contact between students and academics, and the connection between the courses and the professional world. Third-party fundraising, the performance of PhD students, and classroom equipment were also very highly ranked. Furthermore, ZU was well above average in areas such as the international orientation of its study programs, the publication of papers, library facilities, and third-party funding.
Accreditation
Since the establishment of the university, all of ZU's study programs have been quality assured through program accreditation. In September 2013, after a lengthy peer review process, ZU achieved system accreditation, thereby attaining the highest level of national quality accreditation.
This means that both the bachelor's and master's programs in PAIR also meet the quality standards and requirements of the Accreditation Council (AR) and the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK).
The accreditation agencies' special recognition of the quality of the study programs relates to positioning, teaching staff, content orientation and unique teaching/learning formats, as well as supplementary services.
In addition, ZU was institutionally accredited by the German Council of Science and Humanities (WR) as far back as 2009. In September 2011, on the recommendation of the German Council of Science and Humanities, ZU was also given the right to independently award doctorates and habilitations by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Arts and Sciences (MWK), thereby formally achieving parity with the state universities on an academic and research level.
Evaluation of teaching
As part of the students' evaluations of the lectures and seminars, every semester we check whether the specific aims and concepts of these courses (and therefore our own self-imposed standards) are being observed, implemented and achieved in the teaching process. At ZU, we believe that this involves providing our students and lecturers with the best possible environment for a personalized education, for multidisciplinary and globally-oriented learning, teaching and research with as much autonomy and personal responsibility as possible, and with extensive personal contact between students and lecturers.
The results of the students' evaluations of the lectures and seminars in the PAIR study program are an indication of the exceptional quality of our teaching. Accordingly, over the past few semesters our courses have been rated at an average of 1.9 by students.