Testimonials from our students and alumni

After catching up on my A-levels, I decided to study Communication Design at a university in Mainz. Shortly afterwards, some things happened and I was suddenly faced with a big decision: Study or go travelling with my boyfriend? As you can imagine, I initially opted for the latter. That meant packing our bags and setting off to Greece on my boyfriend’s sailboat. Let the adventures begin!

Just under two years ago, there was only one university that offered its courses completely online: IU. When I started to explore the website, I came across their new subject, “Business Psychology”, which was not due to start for a few months. I took a closer look at the contents and was thrilled! I realised straight away that I absolutely had to study this subject – it was like a source of heavenly inspiration that guided me to IU and the subject of Business Psychology.

After some turbulent situations on the boat, my boyfriend and I decided to sell it and build a camper truck. From the thought to the deed in no time at all! The next destination we wanted to travel to with our new camper was Canada. We spent several months here. Recently, however, we moved to America for the first time: We are currently travelling through California. And so it is and remains an exciting journey – and my IU online study programme is always along for the ride.

My name is Alexandra, I am 21 years old and come from Zurich. After graduating from school, I was drawn to faraway places and went travelling for a year. I really wanted to learn Spanish and found a "travelling Spanish classroom" in Panama. I worked in a hostel and quickly got to know many people. Among them is my current boyfriend Kelvin. We fell head over heels in love. He showed me the side of Panama that not every tourist gets to see: small, unknown beaches, islands, fishing and diving – and, of course, he taught me how to surf!

After this unforgettable time, I returned to my family in Switzerland. I quickly realised that I had to go back to Panama. I didn't like studying in Switzerland all the time either, as I was mainly interested in digital marketing and the University of Zurich only offered a few electives in this area. This fact, combined with my own wanderlust, made me start looking for an alternative distance or online study programme.

When I came across IU and saw that you can complete your studies entirely online, I was thrilled! I found the study programme Digital Business with a focus on digital marketing – "Jackpot!", I thought to myself! As a "digital child", I am fascinated by how many possibilities there are today thanks to the Internet and digitalisation. And so I enrolled and went back to Santa Catalina with Kelvin.

What I find so great about distance learning with IU? It is actually 100 per cent flexible! Kelvin and I just spent two months in Bali and Lombok and I was perfectly able to continue studying from there. As I am not bound by a timetable or similar constraints, I can gain valuable experience along the way – both personally and professionally. I am currently doing a three-month online internship in SEO. My dream is to start my own marketing agency one day.

I currently live and study in Priština, the capital of Kosovo. Since I travel a lot, all over Kosovo and Albania, my distance learning are always with me. My official start date was September 2020, but I had already started to familiarise myself with relevant learning topics.

I like the simplicity in things and the way of life, the peace and serenity of this region and its inhabitants. Here I find the seclusion and time I need for my studies. I take every opportunity to learn. I love learning outside in the wild, almost untouched nature with natural gardens and the vastness and beauty of the landscapes, in the meadow between cows or high up on a mountain. The fact that I travel a lot is not a problem at all at IU. This is because I can be (and remain) flexible to the max.

The online study programme at IU brings me many advantages: As a mother of three small children who is often on the road, it would not even be possible for me to do a face-to-face course. At IU, I study when and where I want and pursue my professional goals. At the same time, I can respond to the needs of my family. My experience so far has been entirely positive. The services they offer are very good. For example, you always have a contact person you can turn to. You also always get an answer very quickly and a simple, uncomplicated solution to your problem. Everything is explained in detail and you are not left alone with your concerns: I think that's just great!

I'm Lisanne, 26 years old and I live, work and study on the water – on a German inland vessel to be precise. We use it to travel on European rivers and waterways and transport all kinds of bulk goods, in large quantities. We mainly sail the Rhine, the Necker, the Moselle, the Main and the West German canals. How did this come to be? A good three years ago, I started my own business with my boyfriend, who is a captain, and we bought our own ship. It is 105 metres long, 11 metres wide and we can transport up to 2,640 tonnes of cargo with it. So much for the key data of our travelling home.

We live and work here together, and we share the daily routine. My boyfriend does everything around the ship, plans the routes and keeps an eye on the finances or the ship's operation. My tasks are to learn everything that is important on the ship and the office activities. Here I am responsible for many things, e.g. human resources, accounting and all other business processes. This is another reason why I started my Master online study in Business Administration on a part-time basis at IU in 2019. It suits me perfectly because I am mainly involved on board our ship and still have the opportunity to study and acquire new knowledge. The courses offered by the MBA also fit perfectly into our everyday entrepreneurial life. I learn a lot of things anew or look at them from different angles. This way, I can underpin my everyday professional life with theoretical, evidence-based knowledge, which I really enjoy, and it gives me self-confidence in a professional environment that is very male-dominated.

I’ve completed a course of study during my time on board before, doing my Bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences. Today, on board, studying for an MBA works out wonderfully for me, as I can organise my time relatively freely and, in addition to my practical training on the ship or running other day-to-day aspects, I can pursue my job as ship's wife/matron and head of the galley. It's also great that I can take my exams online at any time. We don't have to create anything extra for that. Without distance learning, it would not be possible for me to study because I don't want to jump ship to attend university or college. Thanks to IU, I can combine everything, develop both practically and theoretically and, of course, realise my true potential.

When I learned about the possibility of studying Social Work in an online study format, it was clear to me that the time had come for a change of direction: After my training as an office communications clerk, I worked for eight years as a commercial employee in a medium-sized company. I worked there mainly in Human Resources Development. Already at the end of my vocational education, the desire to pursue a profession in the social sciences developed. Over the years, I also became increasingly more aware that a 9-to-5 office job does not fulfil me. Besides my job in Human Resources Management, I got to know the social sector better through volunteering. The IU online study programme finally gave me the opportunity to start my desired study programme in Social Work and still enjoy the financial security from my job. As a mother of two children, an important aspect for me was to be able to stay in my old job for the time being while studying.

However, since I was still working in Human Resources, it was particularly important for me to gain some initial practical experience in the social sector and especially in counselling work while I was still studying. In my voluntary online counselling role for young people at "Beratung4Kids" I have specialised in counselling girls and young women. There, I also discovered an interest in working with women for myself and got involved with feminist counselling. I finally managed to change to an autonomous women's shelter in the role of a social educational specialist through my studies: In the Social Work online study programme, an internship is required to obtain state recognition as a social educational specialist. Through my experience in voluntary work, I had the desire to also complete my internship in work with women, preferably in feminist women’s counselling. That's why I applied to an autonomous women's shelter and was lucky enough to be offered a job during my internship.

My primary task as a social educational specialist now lies in accompanying and counselling women who are affected by violence. We work according to the principle of helping people to help themselves. The approach in counselling in autonomous women's shelter work is to activate and strengthen the woman's own resources and to support her autonomy and, if necessary, her practical steps. What fascinates me about my profession is that I can play a small part in counteracting the violence of patriarchal society.

Balancing family, children and studies was very exhausting at times. But I always had the goal in mind to make the industry change. That motivated me. In addition, the flexible study programme at IU helped me to juggle everything. I was able to complete my assignments and sit exams when everyone at home was asleep. For my current job, the modules from my studies at IU, which gave me an understanding of the methods, instruments and frameworks of social work, are still useful to me. The online study programme also taught me to work independently and to manage my own resources well. This is very beneficial to me in social work. This is also the reason why I would recommend studying at IU: The high degree of flexibility that hardly any other university offers.

The end of my vocational training as a travel agent was also a clear signal for me – because I quickly realised that I still wanted to study. So I successfully completed my business administration certificate alongside my job in a DER travel agency in Schweinfurt and thus qualified for university studies. Online learning was ideal for me, as I really wanted to stay in the job. The programme at IU gave me the flexibility I needed to do this. During my studies, this became even more important because I was promoted to the position of Office Manager of my travel agency and had to balance a responsible job – often a 6-day week – plus studies, partner, family and friends.

A great motivation in stressful phases was my own wanderlust, in addition to my regular jogging training. When I was planning my next holiday trip, I always had this in mind and I would say to myself: Now you have to get going – the next holiday is coming soon! But I also owe my success in my studies to the network I established at IU. I was lucky enough to meet seven great fellow students at an IU weekend in Bad Honnef soon after starting my studies. We motivated and supported each other – former "fellow students" are really good friends today.

At the end of my studies in November 2017, I felt ready for a new challenge – and found it at MSC Cruises, where I was responsible for the company's sales partners in Southwest Germany as Sales Manager. I came across my current job at Microsoft on a visit to a careers fair in 2018. I immediately found the company exciting and decided to apply. And was successful: After three selection rounds, I had the job.

At Microsoft, I am now mainly responsible for the onboarding of new employees in Germany – which means I have the honour of inspiring the new "Microsofties" with our great corporate values and culture from day one. I also have my Business Administration degree to thank for the fact that I was able to move from the tourism industry to HR: Using comprehensive theoretical knowledge, I can easily deal with activities in a range of different areas and can think outside of the box of my subject. This way, I can stay true to my personal goal: To pass on my knowledge to others and never stand still.

“I’ll never make it!” This sentence kept going through my head in 2017, when I was in the middle of a distance learning course in business law, alongside my wedding, children and job. I had started studying in 2014, shortly before my promotion to HR Manager at the transport company agilis. Three years later, I still had three exams, a term paper and the Bachelor's thesis ahead of me – quite a mountain of work. But thanks to good organisation, the necessary self-discipline and the support of my family, I successfully completed my studies. Today, I'm a Human Resources Management Specialist at BMW – a great job that I got not least because of my degree. I currently look after around 1,000 employees, advise professional and managerial staff on all employment law issues and support the department in personnel-related matters.

I have always been driven by the desire to develop myself. After my vocational training as a specialist in the hotel industry at the Steigenberger Akademie Bad Reichenhall, I knew that my future would lie in HR. I started as an HR Administrator at the Maritim Hotel in Cologne, and after five and a half years I was Deputy HR Manager there. When my husband moved to Regensburg for work, I switched to the transport company agilis, where I went on to completely rebuild the HR Department of the newly founded company, initially as an HR Officer. Due to the rapid growth of the company – we hired around 400 employees between 2010 and 2016 alone – the HR Department grew and they promoted me to HR Manager due to my outstanding performance.

During my time at agilis, I decided to study Business Law on a distance learning basis because I wanted to further expand my knowledge in the areas of employment law and general law. In the course of my studies, I got married and had twins. While I was still on parental leave, I completed my studies and applied to BMW – with success. The fact that I was able to prevail over a large number of applicants was due to my many years of experience in all areas of HR work and my personality, as well as the fact that I had a Bachelor's degree. Anyone who needs even more reasons to study at IU on an online study basis: The tremendous flexibility offered by the study programme, the great study material that allows you to learn independently, and the short response times from the university administration body and lecturers when a question arises – all very helpful. This ensures you enjoy the optimal conditions for successfully completing your studies – even with a job and children.