A Doctorate Abroad: What to Clarify About Using the Title First

For working professionals, a doctorate abroad is often the only realistic route to the title. The programmes are built for people with a job, supervision is more firmly regulated, and admission takes professional experience more seriously than many German chairs do.

But there is one question on this route that is almost always asked too late: in what form am I actually allowed to use the title afterwards? I usually hear it after the offer arrives. It belongs before.

A disclosure before I go on

I support people entering doctoral programmes abroad myself, among them the ULSIT in Sofia, and I am currently doing my own doctorate there. So I have an interest in this subject.

That is precisely why this article contains no statements about whether a particular degree may be used in a particular form. That would be advice I cannot and may not give. What I offer instead is the order in which to settle it, and the bodies that answer bindingly.

Why this is not a detail

The German Criminal Code addresses the use of titles expressly. Under section 132a paragraph 1 number 1, using domestic or foreign academic degrees without authorisation is punishable. The penalty extends to one year of imprisonment or a fine.

That is no cause for alarm if you settle it in advance. It is, however, the reason not to rely on a forum, on a marketing brochure, or on me.

The three questions, in this order

1. Was the degree properly awarded and earned through real study?

For the use of foreign academic degrees the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education names two basic conditions: the foreign degree must be properly awarded, and it must be earned through studies actually completed.

The second point rules out exactly what has damaged this field's reputation: titles issued for a fee without academic work. If an offer is unusually fast, unusually easy or without genuine supervision, that is not a bargain, it is the disqualifying criterion.

Whether the awarding institution counts as a higher education institution at all can be checked in anabin, the information portal of the Standing Conference. According to the portal's explanation, the status H+ means the institution is recognised as a higher education institution in its home country and is also regarded as such in Germany. The limit of that information matters: it concerns the institution. It says nothing yet about your specific degree or the permissible form of use.

2. Who is responsible, and what do they say?

In Germany, authorisation to use foreign academic degrees is regulated by the states in their own competence. So the competent body is neither the federal government nor the university, but the authority responsible for higher education in the federal state where you intend to use the degree.

State ministries publish guidance on the use of foreign degrees, titles and professional designations. That guidance is the source that counts, and it differs between states. Write to them, giving the country of origin, the university, the exact designation of the degree and the intended study format.

3. What does that mean in practice?

The answer affects more places than most people expect: business cards and email signatures, your CV and professional profiles, letterheads, publications, potentially entries in identity documents and, depending on your profession, professional rules.

So clarify not only whether you may use the title but in what form: with or without an indication of origin, in the original designation or as an abbreviation. That is where state rules diverge, and where a general statement from the internet is of no use to you.

What this means for choosing a programme

Anyone who follows this order makes a different decision from someone looking only at duration and cost.

Which forms of doctorate exist and how they differ is set out under DBA or PhD, structured doctoral programmes and the external doctorate. How long it realistically takes is covered under the duration of a part-time doctorate.

This article describes the situation in Germany. Austria and Switzerland have their own rules and their own competent bodies, which are deliberately not covered here. If you live there, put the same three questions to the responsible authority. An overview of the routes in both countries is given under the part-time doctorate in Austria and Switzerland.

Conclusion: the question belongs at the start

1. Check the status of the university first and whether real academic work sits behind it.
2. Get the exact original designation of the degree in writing.
3. Ask the responsible authority in your federal state about the permissible form of use.
4. Wait for that answer before you enrol.
5. Only then decide on programme, cost and schedule.

This article gives an overview and is not legal advice. Only the information from the responsible authority is binding.

If you want to know whether a doctorate alongside your job suits your situation at all and which routes come into question, start with doing a doctorate part-time. For everything else, book a free initial consultation. I will also tell you there if I think it is the wrong route for you.