Bachelor in
“I would like to study something that enables me to help others”. It is something that those working in our Advisory Service hear very often. If this is what you want, this study programme as a Social Educator is the right choice.
By attending this course, you will learn the theoretical basis and gain the practical skills required to work in the field of training people, of providing extra-curricular education and helping with social integration. You will work with children, teenagers or adults, with healthy people and those who suffer from illnesses or who have impairments. This study programme welcomes and gives value to the contributions made in different fields of study in order to train you to perform well in this profession. We have focussed on theoretical issues as well as on applied research and methodology.
The fact that the course is taught in three languages helps students develop a higher intercultural sensitivity.
unibz guarantees to all candidates that courses will start as planned in Fall 2020 and that no student will be left behind. The Faculties are working on a plan to ensure that teaching will continue to take place. A mixture of simultaneous online and in-presence classes will probably be the formula for the winter semester.
Bachelor class: L-19
ECTS credits: 180
Duration of the course: 3 years
Courses will be taught in: Italian, German and English (trilingual)
Places available: 35 EU + 4 non-EU
Campus: Brixen-Bressanone
Tuition fees: €1.348,50 per year
Fundamental disciplines such as Psychology, Sociology, Pedagogy and Anthropology will help you understand human behaviour and contextualise it from a social, economic, political and cultural point of view. You will gain specific skills through seminars centred upon research methodology, working with specific social groups, on how to activate participation and about a critical use of the media.
Degree Course director: Prof. Susanne Elsen (photo)
Student Representative in the Course Council: Evi Ploner
We currently offer exchange programmes with more than 30 partner universities all over the world and are part of a large network of collaboration with employers in Italy and abroad where you can undertake your internship. Experienced supervisors monitor and support students during their internship of 200 hours each in their 2nd and 3rd year.
Our graduates are working as educators with children, young people, adults, the elderly, people with disadvantages and minorities. They also find jobs in organisations that provide social and health care, training, work advice, welfare or that support ex-convicts in their path to finding their place in society again. Other realms social educators can work within are the promotion of healthy lifestyles; multicultural education against racism; therapy for addictions in counselling and social services offered in various institutions.
Well prepared and ready for the job market. On the website of AlmaLaurea you can check statistical data about graduates’ satisfaction and their employability.
KiSo project manager, Jugenddienst, Bozen-Bolzano
Dreisprachig studieren zu können spielte eine bedeutende Rolle bei meiner Studienwahl. Das internationale Klima und die Sprachenvielfalt kennzeichnen die unibz und haben mich während meines ganzen Studiums begleitet. Dies gab mir die einzigartige Möglichkeit nicht nur meine Fremdsprachenkompetenzen zu vertiefen, sondern diese auch in meinem Fachstudium und im Alltag zu nutzen.
Living in South Tyrol, Housing, Scholarships, Single Subject Courses and more
Everything you need to know as a degree-seeking applicant or as an incoming exchange student
You can find all you need to know in order to apply and gain admission to this study programme by browsing through the information below.
Application: 02/03 - 28/04/2020 (by noon local time)
Language exams: 15 - 22/04/2020 (registration 31/03 - 07/04/2020)
Admission procedure: 11/05/2020
Publication of ranking lists: by 18/05/2020
Payment of the 1st instalment of the tuition fees: by 28/05/2020 (by noon local time)
Enrolment: 15/07 - 27/07/2020 (by noon local time)
Application: 20/05 - 09/07/2020 (by noon local time)
Language exams: 29/06 - 03/07/2020, if necessary, also on 04/07 or 06/07 (registration 25/05 - 19/06/2020)
Admission procedure: 20/07/2020
Publication of ranking lists: by 29/07/2020
Payment of the 1st instalment of the tuition fees: by 06/08/2020 (by noon local time)
Enrolment: 29/07 - 06/08/2020 (by noon local time)
Intensive language courses: 07 - 25/09/2020 (Monday to Friday, 8 h/day)
Freshers Days 29/09/2020
Classes: 28/09 - 23/12/2020
Exams (extraordinary session): 14 - 23/12/2020
Holidays: 24/12/2020 - 06/01/2021
Classes: 07/01 - 16/01/2021
Exams: 18/01 - 13/02/2021
Classes: 22/02 - 01/04/2021
Holidays: 02/04 - 05/04/2021
Classes: 06/04 - 12/06/2021
Exams (extraordinary session): 17 - 29/05/2021
Exams: 14/06 - 10/07/2021
Exams: 23/08 - 25/09/2021
EU citizens and citizens given parity of treatment
Early Bird Application: 25
Late Application: 10
Non-EU citizens (living abroad)
Early Bird Application: 4
The programme will only be offered if a minimum of 30 newly enrolled students is reached.
To gain admission to the programme you need one of the following qualifications:
Foreign school leaving certificates are considered equivalent if obtained after 12 years of education. In this case, you furthermore must have attended at least the last two years in the foreign school system (e.g. Irish Leaving Certificate: it is not enough to attend one year and obtain the foreign certificate).
The Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research has set specific admission requirements for holders of certain certificates (e.g. American high school diplomas, British and Greek certificates). For more information: apply@unibz.it (Advisory Service).
To be admitted, you must fulfil the language requirements indicated in the section “Language requirements”.
Concurrent enrolment at several universities or in several study programmes at the same university is not allowed.
The official teaching languages are German, Italian and English. Therefore, the following language requirements apply, otherwise you will be excluded from the admission procedure:
Entry level (to gain admission)
1st language: B2
2nd language: B2
3rd language: no level required
After one year
3rd language: B1 (in order to sit exams)
Exit level (to graduate)
1st language: C1
2nd language: C1
3rd language: B2
The levels of the Common European Framework of Reference apply.
Your first language is the language in which you have the highest level of proficiency (B2 or C1). Your third language is instead the language in which you are weaker (or in which you are an absolute beginner).
You can demonstrate your language proficiency in the application portal (in the section “upload language certificates” and/or “enrol for language exams”) after you have created an application in the section “create/manage applications”. The certification is mandatory for the first and second language, for the third language it is recommended (from B1 onwards).
You can demonstrate language proficiency through:
Information regarding the structure of the language proficiency exams, their duration, their administration, and typical processing time for the publication of the results can be found on the following webpage: https://www.unibz.it/en/services/language-centre/language-exams/.
Secondary schools in a foreign country/Bi- or multilingual schools
If the foreign language proficiency levels (for German, Italian, or English) are explicitly indicated on the diploma of graduation according to the Common European Framework of Reference (i.e., B1, B2 or C1), and if all four language abilities (reading, listening, speaking, writing) have been assessed, then the indicated levels will be accepted as a proof of proficiency for the second and/or third language.
Please upload your school-leaving certificate to the application portal in the section “upload language certificates” under the respective language. The Language Centre will decide on its recognition.
Third language/Intensive language courses in September
If you have already acquired a language certificate in the third teaching language, please upload it to the portal. If you are not able to certify your language competence in the third language and you are admitted to unibz, you will have to take a placement test. You will receive further information about the test by e-mail. Based on the result of the placement test, you will be assigned to a certain learning path so that you will be able to reach level B2 as soon as possible.
If you are an absolute beginner in the third language, or if you have a level below B2, you may attend a three-week intensive language course during the pre-semester session in September in order to start the learning path.
The dates of the extensive courses are indicated in the “Deadlines” section. Beginner courses (A1) will be offered exclusively during the pre-semester intensive course session in September will no longer be offered during the academic year. Therefore, absolute beginners should start their learning path for the third language by attending the intensive courses in September.
There will be extensive courses (4 hours per week) during the semesters and intensive courses (8 hours per week) during the time between semesters.
The language courses offered by the Language Centre are free of charge and aim to help the students reach the following target levels in the third language:
You will not be able to take degree course exams after the first year of study until you have reached the B1 level in the third language.
Your application must be submitted online through the Application Portal. The deadlines are indicated in the “Deadlines” section.
Please note: Mendacious declarations will be criminally prosecuted and will result in the automatic exclusion from the ranking list.
You have to upload:
If you gained your qualification abroad, you must also upload:
The declaration of equivalent value (not necessary for qualifications gained in Austria or Germany, but unibz reserves the right to request it in case of doubt)
If you have a foreign qualification, you must certify that your qualification would grant you admission to a similar study programme in the country where you gained this qualification. For this reason, you must:
You might apply for more than one study programme. If you are excluded in the first session, you might apply again in the second one.
Considered as equivalent are:
Only one application period is offered. After the deadline it is not possible to apply anymore. Application fee: € 30.
As a non-EU citizen living abroad:
We would like to assure you that the admission exams will take place, but in telematic form. We will send you all the necessary information right after April 28th - the end of the registration period. However, already now we ask you to make sure that you have a computer and internet access for the days of the entrance exam. Your computer must have a camera and a microphone so that the exam commission can hear and see you.
As you know, in order to take part to the admission exam you must also meet the language requirements.
We are available to answer any questions you may have.
The admission procedure is based on the following criteria:
In the event of equal scores, the younger applicant will have priority.
In the application portal, you shall:
(*) If you omit to indicate the final grades of the penultimate year of secondary school, the Admission Committee assigns you a final grade equal to the passing mark of the school year you have not provided a certificate for.
If you have attended a school whose system differs substantially from the Italian system and you do not have the reports with the final grades of the third last and/or penultimate year of study of your secondary school, the Admission Committee reserves the right to evaluate the possible final reports of the secondary school that refer to years different from the penultimate or third last. If applicants already have a university degree, the Admission Committee will consider the average grades of the university exams.
Ranking lists
The Admission Committee will only evaluate the documents uploaded in the portal by the application deadline. The ranking lists with the admitted students will be published here and are only valid for the respective academic year.
If you have been admitted to more than one study programme, you can only secure your admission in one of them. Doing so you refrain from the admission to other study programmes.
1. Choose the study programme and pay the fees (to secure your admission) in the application portal.
The deadlines are indicated in the “Deadlines” section.
If you do not meet this deadline, you will automatically be excluded and the next applicant in the ranking list will be admitted.
For EU citizens and citizens given parity of treatment only: any remaining places of the early bird application, will be offered in the late application.
Please note that you do not gain full student status by only paying the tuition fees. This status will only be acquired upon enrolment. If you have secured your admission, there will be no refund of the tuition fees unless you do not pass your secondary school final exam or, in the event of non-EU applicants living abroad, you do not receive the documents necessary for enrolment from the Italian authorities in your country.
2. Enrol online in the application portal.
The deadlines are indicated in the “Deadlines” section.
Enrolment is recommended as early as possible, so you have the possibility to upload incomplete documents before the deadline.
If you do not meet the enrolment deadline, you will be excluded and the next applicant in the ranking list will be admitted.
If you have gained your secondary school qualification abroad, you must upload (if not uploaded upon application):
At the beginning of the academic year you must submit the originals of the above-mentioned documents to the Student Secretariat.
Please note that if you do not possess a valid admission qualification, you could be excluded with Rector’s decree even after enrolment.
If you are a non-EU citizen living abroad:
If you are eligible for admission (check the ranking lists), the Italian Authorities in your own country will issue you the entry visa for studies/university. This will allow you to arrive in Italy to sit the Italian-language test (for bachelor programmes), any entrance tests you have to take, and to enrol for the study programme that you have applied for, after passing the admission procedure.
The Italian-language test, which all students applying for bachelor programmes must sit, usually takes place at the beginning of September in Bozen-Bolzano. Students might also sit the oral exam online.
According to Italian law, within 8 working days of your arrival in Italy, you must have applied for the residence permit: as soon as you arrive, get in touch with the Advisory Service and you will be given the necessary information for starting the procedure.
Once you will obtain your residence permit (permesso di soggiorno), you have to hand it in at the Student Secretariat personally or via e-mail.
Students intending to transfer from another Italian University to unibz have to submit to the Student Secretariat - at the beginning of the academic year - a copy of the transfer application presented at the university of provenance.
Fees amount to € 1348.50.
Delayed payment of the second instalment will result in a fine being levied. If you have not paid the tuition fees, you will be unable to take exams and will not be able to transfer to other universities or other study programmes.
If you drop out of a programme, interrupt your studies or are excluded from studies, you are not entitled to reimbursement of the fees.
Exemption from the tuition fees (and the provincial tax) is granted to:
Students who benefit from a scholarship granted by the Autonomous Province of Bozen-Bolzano are entitled to receive a refund of the tuition fees.
Credit points from previous university studies can only be recognised after enrolment if the exams taken at the university of provenance are equivalent in content to those offered at unibz. You can fill out the application after enrolment at your Faculty Secretariat.
The Faculty organises appointments for the preliminary evaluation (Italian and German) of previous university careers.
The Advisory Service provides support regarding your choice of study. In many cases a simple call or a short request is enough to get the relevant information (Tel. +39 0471 012100).