On 23 May 2019, nine participants in the cooperative education system, including the Rhineland-Palatinate Cooperative State University, founded the Registered Association of Cooperative Education in Germany (Verband Duales Hochschulstudium Deutschland). This association supports empirical educational research into cooperative education. By distributing research findings, a better understanding of cooperative education is fostered and the quality of cooperative study programmes can be improved.

At the foundation meeting held at the Berlin School of Economics and Law, their first vice president, Prof. Dr Harald Gleißner, was elected chairman of this newly-founded association. "Cooperative education is a successful model that everybody is talking about. As such, it is about time that those participating in this unique education system find their collective voice and use it. Using research findings, we would like to get actively involved in public discussions and contribute to successfully furthering cooperative education," explained Professor Gleißner about the purpose of the association.

Read the full press release.

By the way: Since 2020, the federal association is also online!