Lifelong learning, lifelong education, educational programmes for adults: this is essential to strengthen liberal democracies in an increasingly complex world. In the modern knowledge society with its constantly evolving information and communication technologies, lifelong learning is more in demand than ever before. The fact that adults have a great interest in this is demonstrated by the high participation rates in relevant educational programmes. Accordingly, adult education/continuing education has become increasingly important as a professional field, especially for teachers with a university degree.

Anyone wishing to specialise in this field can take the new international Master's degree course ‘Adult Education and Management in Lifelong Education’ at Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg. It is offered in English and starts in the winter semester 2025/26. The application deadline is 15 July 2025.

High skills shortage, good career prospects

Regina Egetenmeyer, JMU Professor of Adult Education/Continuing Education, designed the new degree programme with her team. She describes what makes the new Master's programme unique: "We are the only degree programme in adult education/Continuing education and one of the very few in education in Germany that is offered in English. The demand from students from a wide range of countries is high."

According to the professor, the demand for specialists in adult education/continuing education is high: "This is not only due to the generational change in the fields of practice. For some years now, I have also been receiving numerous enquiries from specialist academies, adult education centres, personnel development, continuing vocational training and denominational adult education asking for specialist staff." This shows a demand for people who can design educational and didactic programmes. ‘We prepare our students for precisely these tasks.’

Compulsory elective courses in other JMU departments

Students on the new Master's degree programme can complete 20 ECTS credits in other JMU institutes and faculties. This concerns the areas of mediation in museums, international relations in political science, diversity and difference criteria and international human resources development. There is also the opportunity to deepen foreign language skills.

In addition to the purely English-language version of the Master's programme, students starting in the winter semester 2025/26 also have the option of completing 30 ECTS in the compulsory elective area and the Master's thesis in German.

Diverse international experience possible

Students can study the Master's programme entirely in Würzburg or opt for a double degree with the University of Padua. In the latter case, they spend at least one semester at the partner university in northern Italy.

There are also numerous other opportunities to gain international experience: These include internships with international practice partners, a summer school in Florence or further semesters abroad in Europe and North America. The core of the international exchange programme is the annual Adult Education Academy, which is attended by around 100 participants and 15 professors from over 20 countries.

Information event on 3 June via Zoom

The next information event for prospective students will take place on Tuesday, 3 June 2025, at 4:30 p.m. via Zoom. The access details are published on the degree programme website.

Network meeting on 2 July in Würzburg

Prospective students can also attend a network meeting on Wednesday, 2 July 2025. They will then have the opportunity to get in touch with practical organisations to find out about internships or career entry opportunities, for example. Students will also present the results of their Master's theses.