Hochschule
Roughly equivalent terms to "Hochschule" are used in some other European countries, such as "högskola" in Sweden and Finland, "hogeschool" in the Netherlands and Flanders, and "" (literally "main school") in Hungary, as well as in post-Soviet countries (deriving from ) in Central Europe, in Bulgaria () and Romania. Generic term. The German education system knows two different types of universities, which do not have the same legal status. The term "Hochschule" can be used to refer to all institutions of higher education in Germany that confer academic degrees, that is both regular universities ("Universitäten") and "Fachhochschulen". Specialised term. Rather than  as an umbrella term, "Hochschule" is also increasingly used as a specialized term, i.e. for institutions that: Institutions that are called "Hochschule" meet one or more of these criteria, which differentiate them from an "Universität". In recent years, a number of German "Fachhochschulen" opted to name themselves "Hochschule" or "Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften" (university of applied sciences) rather than "Fachhochschule". Additionally, there are specialized "Hochschulen" which focus on a particular set of disciplines, e.g., "Kunsthochschulen" (art schools), and share the same legal status as regular universities. In most German states, a "" is not a "Hochschule" by either of the definitions  because the bachelor's degrees conferred by such are professional degrees, which are "de jure" not academic degrees. However the state of Baden-Württemberg, from where this type of tertiary sector education originally emerged, has recently elevated these institutions to the status of a "Hochschule" as Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University. The degrees awarded by the latter are academic degrees and equivalent to those awarded by "Fachhochschulen" and regular universities.