Exchange participants are required to take a full-time course load (the equivalent of 12 Temple credits) while abroad and will earn transfer credit.
Course Offerings
Temple students studying at the University of Hamburg can take classes in German in any of the following subjects:
- Anthropology
- Art History
- Biology
- Business
- Chemistry
- Computer Science
- Economics
- Education
- English Language
- Literature & Culture
- Geography
- Geology
- History
- Journalism
- Mathematics
- Philosophy
- Physics
- Political Science
- Psychology
- Sociology
Exchange students typically also take German as a Foreign Language coursework to improve their German language skills while abroad.
Course Approvals
Prior to departure, students must complete the Course Approval process. Part of this process will require students to speak with the appropriate faculty members to evaluate courses and assign a corresponding Temple requirement. Courses that are taken abroad may have a direct Temple course equivalent, may fulfill an upper level elective or a lower level elective, general education requirement etc. Faculty will approve and assign corresponding Temple courses or requirement, but do not indicate the number of Temple credits that will be received for each course taken abroad. Students are advised to seek pre-approval for about twice as many courses as they can take, in the event that they need to change their schedules upon arrival.
Upon arrival, if students find that they must make a last-minute course change and enroll in a course that has not been pre-approved, students should e-mail the details of any new courses to the appropriate departments for evaluation. However, due to the time it takes to have a course approved from overseas, in some cases final determination on course approval may not be made until students return. It is therefore always advised to include any and all courses that a student might take abroad on their course approval form.
Transfer of Credits and Grading Scale
After Temple receives an official transcript from the University of Hamburg, approved courses that have been passed with a grade equivalent to a C or better will be accepted by Temple and appear on students' transcripts as transfer credit. The number of credits received for each course will be evaluated at this time. The University of Hamburg uses the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) to articulate credits on its transcripts. More information about Temple's transfer credit policies, including conversions from ECTS to Temple credit, can be found on Temple's Undergraduate Bulletin. Temple GPAs will not be affected by grades earned on an exchange.
Grading Scale
| Hamburg Grade | Grade Description | Temple Equivalent |
| 1-1.5 | Sehr Gut (Very Good) | A |
| 1.6-2.5 | Gut (Good) | A |
| 2.6-3.5 | Befriedigend (Satisfactory) | B |
| 3.6-4.0 | Ausreichend (Sufficient) | C |
| 4.1-6 | Nicht Ausreichend (Insufficient) | F |