Faculty of Business and Economics

Admission requirements and selection process


Admission to the Master’s degree programme in Development Economics is competitive. Admission into the programme is based on proof of relevance of previous studies.

Admission requirements

  • A course of study of at least 6 semesters in length with a Bachelor's degree comprising at least 180 ECTS credits in the subject of Economics or a closely related subject.
  • Verification of at least 150 of the 180 ECTS credits is required at the time of application (83% of your overall credits for programmes with any other structure)
  • Academic achievement in Economics and/ or Agricultural Economics and/ or Econometrics totalling at least 60 ECTS credits (as measured for a 180 ECTS bachelor's programme; for any other programme types at least one third of overall courses taken), including courses in Economic Theory, Agricultural Economics, and Development Economics totalling at least 30 ECTS credits (or one sixth) altogether.
  • As part of fulfilling the minimum of 30 ECTS course requirements in Economic Theory, Agricultural Economics, and Development Economics:

    • A minimum of 18 ECTS must be from modules with intermediate or high scientific level. For courses to be considered intermediate or advanced, the course content must clearly go beyond introductory or basic concepts.

  • Academic achievement in Mathematics or Statistics or Econometrics (in addition to the courses possibly counted above) totalling at least 12 ECTS credits (or 7% of overall credits for other structures).


Proof of relevant language skills

  • English
  • For a list of accepted language certificates, see: "Required application documents"
    Please note that we can only accept one of the listed certificates.
  • The accepted language certificate has to be uploaded until the end of the application period. It is NOT possible to hand it in later.


Please pay attention to the following details

  • The determination of the relevancy of previous studies is based on the documents enclosed in the application. Please submit documents that verify special knowledge for the selected course of study (for example syllabi or course descriptions). This does not apply to Bachelor degree holders of the Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Göttingen.
  • Unless needed as part of an EPOS scholarship application, please do not enclose any letters of recommendation. They will not be evaluated.


Selection procedures and criteria

  • The selection process is a two-stage process. The initial selection round will evaluate candidates based on their submitted application. The second round will evaluate candidates based on personal interviews.
  • The following points are evaluated in the selection procedure:
    The overall grade of the degree on which application is based upon. In addition, special knowledge and abilities in those fields that specially qualify the applicant for the Master's programme (for example, special knowledge in the areas of economics), documented by a corresponding specialisation respectively performance in the programme, on which application is based upon.