Austria Education System Explained for International Students | Qogent Global

Academic Structure

Understanding the Austria Education System

Gain insights into the Austria higher education framework, academic culture, teaching methods, and grading system to prepare for your studies.

Austrian Degree Levels

Bachelor's degree

At least 6 semesters (3 years)

180 to 240 ECTS credits (European study credit points).

Master's degree

At least 4 semesters (2 years)

Usually 90 to 120 ECTS credits. Needs a related bachelor's.

Doctoral degree (Dr. or PhD)

At least 3 years

Research degree after a master's.

Austria uses bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees.

Higher Education Framework

Austria's Higher Education

Austria has 23 public universities, 19 private universities, 21 universities of applied sciences and 14 teacher education colleges.

Types of Higher Education Institutions

Public universities

23 universities, including 6 for the arts, 3 for medicine and 4 for technology.

•Bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees

•Non-EU tuition: EUR 726.72 a semester

Universities of applied sciences (Fachhochschule, FH)

21 universities. Their degrees prepare you for a job.

•Each sets its own fees for non-EU students

•After a master's here, you can do a PhD at a university.

Private universities

19 private universities.

•They set their own fees

Teacher education colleges

14 colleges that train teachers.

•Bachelor of Education: 6 semesters, 180 ECTS credits

Academic Degree Structure

Bachelor's

At least 6 semesters (3 years)

180 to 240 ECTS credits.

Master's

At least 4 semesters (2 years)

Usually 90 to 120 ECTS credits. The smallest allowed is 60.

Key Characteristics:

Needs a related bachelor's

Doctoral (Dr. or PhD)

At least 3 years

A research degree. No ECTS credits are given.

Grading System

Austrian Grades

Austrian universities grade from 1 (best) to 5 (fail).

Letter Grade	Description
1 (Sehr gut)	Excellent: outstanding performance.
2 (Gut)	Good: better than average, with some mistakes.
3 (Befriedigend)	Satisfactory: mostly right, with some clear mistakes.
4 (Genügend)	Sufficient: meets the minimum. The lowest pass.
5 (Nicht genügend)	Fail.

Lower is better

In Austria, 1 is the best grade and 5 is a fail.

Academic Calendar

The Study Year

The study year runs from 1 October to 30 September.

Semester system

Two semesters a year. These are the official semester dates.

Winter semester

1 October to 30 January

The first semester of the study year.

Summer semester

1 March to 30 September

The second semester.

Key Academic Dates

Application Deadlines

•Winter semester, general closing date at universities: 5 September each year
•Summer semester, general closing date at universities: 5 February each year

Credits (ECTS)

Courses are measured in ECTS credits (European study credit points).

What one credit means

Credit definition:

•At the University of Graz, 1 ECTS credit means 25 hours of work, including classes and self-study.
•To extend your student residence permit (the card that lets you live in Austria to study), you must pass at least 16 ECTS credits in each study year.