10.1 What are combination and partial study programmes?

A combined study programme exists if students “select individual subjects from a larger number of permissible subjects for their studies” (§ 32 para. 1 MRVO, cf. also § 32 as a whole). The subjects each form the partial study programmes of the combined study programme. Students therefore generally choose two or even three subjects; more than three compulsory subjects are less common.
The scope of the partial study programmes to be chosen within a combined study programme varies; two structural models are common: equally large partial study programmes can be combined in a combined study programme, or a larger and one or more smaller partial study programmes can be combined. The latter are sometimes referred to as “major and minor” or “major/minor”. However, this must be distinguished from study structures consisting of only one study programme with integrated minor subjects to choose from. For a differentiation between combined and partial study programmes and study programmes with integrated minor subjects, see FAQ 15.3.

Figure 1 illustrates the structure of combined study programmes compared to study programmes with integrated minor subjects, Figure 2 shows examples of the two common structural models.

Note on the publication date: FAQ 10.1 published in August 2018 has been merged into the new FAQs 10.1-10.5.