The university was founded in 2017 by Thomas Bachem, Manuel Dolderer and Jonathan Rüth, along with 24 internet entrepreneurs and startup investors. It was officially recognized on July 14, 2017 by the Senate of Berlin department for science and research. Bachem stated that his personal experience learning that German universities’ computer science study programs were of an outdated didactic and theoretical nature sparked the idea for CODE. Being an autodidact coder since his early youth, he saw no fitting institution for his kind.
Supporters
Known supporters of CODE are Rolf Schrömgens, Benjamin Otto, Stephan Schambach, Patrick Adenauer, Ijad Madisch, Verena Pausder, Heiko Hubertz, Rafael Laguna, Gabriele Pulvermüller, Klaas Kersting, Florian Heinemann and Christian Vollmann. According to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, “CODE University is doing important work educating the next generation of students in advanced technological skills.” She is “confident those students will go on to do incredible things – they’ll change our communities, our industries, and the world.”
Curriculum
Courses
The university offers three international English-language Bachelor's degree courses, each being six semesters long:
All three courses are accredited by the German state and matching the European Bologna process.
Didactics
CODE’s learning approach can be described as competency-orientated, self-directed and problem-based, namely by using concepts such as Mastery Learning, Flipped Classroom and Peer Learning. Aside from the subject-specific competences, the curriculum addresses topics like personal development and the ability to reflect oneself by implementation of a mentoring program. From the beginning, students are working project-based and self-regulated in interdisciplinary teams of software developers, interaction designers and product managers. Those projects are created and selected in close cooperation with a number of companies and organisations. All offered courses are grounded on a common competence framework. Upon start, each student receives an individual profile based on their already existing abilities to enhance and develop in their course of studies. The interdisciplinary Science, Technology & Society Program is meant to confront the students with the effects of their work on questions of science, technological progress and society.
Admission process
All potential applicants have to go through a multi-level admission process in which classical measuring tools like school grades or certificates are completely irrelevant. The four-step admission process consists of a written online motivation letter, a video interview, an exemplary project "challenge" and finally joining an Assessment day. According to the university, out of 2000 applicants from over 25 countries, 88 students were selected to join the very first winter semester of 2017.
Tuition fees
CODE University is financed by tuition fees that can be paid via a socially responsible, subsequent income-adjusted tuition-fee model. This way, the entire studies stay free of charge for any student for the course of their studies. This reversed generation agreement is realized by Chancen eG, following the example of Witten/Herdecke University’s StudierendenGesellschaft. After finishing their studies, students agree to repay the university a certain percentage of their income for several years. According to the university, more than 80% of all their students are opting for this model.
Campus
The university’s facilities are part of the Berlin-based startup campus and community space Factory Berlin. Its 14.000 m² are located in Lohmühlenstraße, Alt-Treptow, next to Görlitzer Park. Due to a close partnership, all students are free to use the overall 23.000 m² of Factory’s Berlin facilities as well as the included membership perks for free.
