Best Public Universities in Austria (2026)

How Are Austria's Public Universities Categorised by Type?

Austria's 23 public universities (Öffentliche Universitäten) fall into six groups: 6 general universities, 3 specialised but general-purpose universities, 3 technical universities, 3 medical universities, 6 universities of the arts, and 1 continuing-education university. 22 of them run under the Universitätsgesetz 2002; IT:U Linz operates under its own federal law and has been running since October 2024.

The type tells you what the university can teach you, not how good it is. The 6 general universities carry the widest subject catalogues, from Universität Wien (founded 1365, the oldest) to Universität Klagenfurt (1970, the youngest of the group). The three medical universities only exist as separate institutions since 2004, when Vienna, Graz, and Innsbruck split their medical faculties out of the parent university, so medicine in those cities is applied for separately.

The three specialised but general-purpose universities are the ones applicants most often miss. BOKU University (1872) covers land, water, and life sciences, Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien (1765) is Austria's only veterinary university, and Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien (1898) is the business university. The 6 universities of the arts admit on a portfolio or audition rather than on a school-leaving certificate, and Universität für Weiterbildung Krems (1994) takes only postgraduate students.

Some well-known Austrian institutions are not on the list of 23. The Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) in Klosterneuburg, founded in 2006 with its campus open since 2009, is a PhD-granting research institute under its own federal act and admits no bachelor's students. Central European University (CEU) in Vienna is a private university. The 21 Fachhochschulen are publicly funded in part but run under the Fachhochschulgesetz, not the Universitätsgesetz, so they are a separate sector with their own fee rules.

How Do You Apply to an Austrian Public University?

Which Degrees Have an Entrance Exam at Austrian Public Universities?

Most public university degrees are open-entry, but the Universitätsgesetz 2002 lets universities cap demand in two groups. Medicine, dentistry, psychology, psychotherapy and veterinary medicine fall under § 71c. Nine high-demand fields, including law, computer science and business, fall under § 71b. Medicine and dentistry share one test, the MedAT: 16,880 people registered for the 3 July 2026 sitting, competing for 1,950 places.

The MedAT runs on the same day at MedUni Wien, MedUni Innsbruck, MedUni Graz and the JKU Linz medical faculty. Registration and payment of the €110 participation fee ran from 2 to 31 March 2026 (MedUni Wien), and 13,248 candidates sat the test. Human medicine applies a quota: at least 95% of places go to EU citizens and equal-status applicants, at least 75% to holders of an Austrian school-leaving certificate or its equivalent, and at most 5% to the non-EU quota. Dentistry has no quota. The next test is expected on Friday 9 July 2027, with registration again in March.

Outside medicine, the law sets how many first-year places Austria must offer each year. UG 2002 § 71c fixes 1,300 places in psychology, up to 250 in veterinary medicine and up to 500 in the psychotherapy master's, with human medicine and dentistry capped at 2,000. UG 2002 § 71b sets national minimums in the high-demand fields, among them 10,630 in business and economics, 4,300 in law and 2,800 in computer science. Where a university uses these powers, its programme page names the test and an earlier registration window, so check it well before the general 5 September deadline.

Which Austrian Universities Rank Highest?

The University of Vienna is Austria's highest-ranked university: 140th in QS (June 2026 edition), 95th in THE (2026), and 101-150 in ARWU (2026). TU Wien follows at 191 in QS, 301-350 in THE, and 301-400 in ARWU. MedUni Wien takes 181 in THE and 201-300 in ARWU. WU Wien sits outside the main world tables but places 69th in QS Business and Management 2026.

Two things trip up readers of these tables. First, QS names each edition after the following year, so the table published in June 2026 is often called QS 2027; the older figures still quoted widely (Uni Wien 152, TU Wien 197, Innsbruck 350, TU Graz 427) come from the June 2025 edition, which TU Wien published as QS 2026. In the June 2026 table, every one of those universities moved up: Uni Wien to 140, TU Wien to 191, Innsbruck to 333, TU Graz to 409 and JKU Linz to 458.

Second, not every Austrian name in a ranking is a public university. Central European University (CEU), at 239 in the same QS table, is a private university in Vienna and charges its own tuition. TU Graz, founded in 1811, is not in our top 7 but ranks above Uni Graz and JKU Linz in QS; its own figures count 13,529 students on 31 December 2025, 28.7% of them international.

What Is the Difference Between a University and a Fachhochschule in Austria?

The Universitätsgesetz 2002 (UG) governs 22 of Austria's public universities, and IT:U Linz runs under its own federal law. They hold full degree and doctorate rights, and AQ Austria or another EQAR agency audits their quality-management system under the HS-QSG instead of accrediting the institution. The Fachhochschulgesetz (FHG) governs 21 Fachhochschulen, which AQ Austria accredits and which award no doctorate. The PrivHG 2020 governs 17 Privatuniversitäten and 2 Privathochschulen.

Admission separates the three sectors more than teaching does. A Fachhochschule always selects its intake through a competitive Aufnahmeverfahren (interview, written test, or portfolio). A public Universität keeps many programmes open-entry, so you enrol with a valid school-leaving certificate, and only capped fields such as medicine and psychology run their own entrance procedure. A Privatuniversität sets its own rules. A Fachhochschule also runs many berufsbegleitend (part-time, evening) tracks in small fixed cohorts, while a Universität teaches mostly full-time in large lectures with a flexible course plan.

On degrees and cost, a public Universität awards Bachelor, Master, and Doctorate degrees. A Fachhochschule awards degrees equal to university degrees but holds no Promotionsrecht, so it awards no doctorate of its own; among the private sector only a Privatuniversität may run doctoral programmes. EU/EEA students pay €0 per semester at a public Universität within the standard duration, then €363.36; a Fachhochschule may charge up to €363.36 per semester; a Privatuniversität charges unregulated tuition, €14,000 to €28,358 per year at MODUL, Webster Vienna and SFU. AQ Austria (Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria) runs the public-university audits and accredits the other two sectors, and the Fachhochschul-Konferenz (FHK) represents the FH sector.

The €363.36 FH ceiling does not bind every student. Fachhochschulgesetz § 2 (2) caps the fee for regular students at €363.36 a semester, but lets an FH charge up to cost-covering fees to third-country students who hold a § 64 NAG student residence permit and are not covered by the Personengruppenverordnung. The cap also does not apply to programmes run entirely abroad. Each FH publishes its rate in its own Beitragsordnung, so a non-EU applicant should compare FH fees programme by programme, while a public Universität charges the same statutory €726.72 everywhere.

Which Study Route Fits Your Situation?

Your passport and residence title decide the route more than your subject does. A third-country student on a § 64 NAG permit pays €1,453.44 a year in tuition at any public university, plus the €52.40 ÖH fee. An EU student who finishes on time pays only the ÖH fee. Medicine is the exception to every rule: the MedAT drew 16,880 registrations for 1,950 places in 2026, which works out at about 8.7 applicants per place (joint MedUni release, April 2026).

Two routes are cheaper than they look. Parents with a child under 7 can have tuition waived for every semester with childcare duties, and graduates of an Austrian university get the Red-White-Red Card with no points test and no labour market test (migration.gv.at: graduates). For a non-EU student, an Austrian degree is the cheapest door into the Austrian labour market.

How Much Does Public University Tuition Cost in Austria?

For WS 2026/27, EU, EEA and Swiss students pay €0 during the standard study duration plus two tolerance semesters, then €363.36 a semester. Third-country nationals on a § 64 NAG student residence permit pay €726.72 a semester; those holding any other Austrian residence title follow the EU rule. Everyone pays the ÖH student union fee of €26.20 a semester, which includes €0.70 of accident and liability insurance.

Several exemptions waive the tuition fee itself. UG 2002 §§ 91-92 and the Studienbeitragsverordnung exempt study-grant holders, students with at least 50% disability, students with illness or pregnancy of two months or more, students with childcare for a child under 7, students on approved leave, and students on EU mobility programmes. Citizens of the least developed countries named in the Studienbeitragsverordnung get a permanent waiver, as BOKU's fee page sets out, and students covered by the Personengruppenverordnung are exempt too. The ÖH fee of €26.20 a semester applies to every student regardless.

Per year, the numbers stay small. A third-country student on a § 64 NAG permit pays €752.92 a semester including the ÖH fee, which is €1,505.84 a year. An EU, EEA or Swiss student who finishes on time pays only the ÖH fee, €52.40 a year. The free window counts semesters at 30 ECTS each: a 6-semester bachelor stays fee-free for 8 semesters, a 4-semester master for 6.

Two rules in UG 2002 § 91 save money for students who study more than one subject. You pay the tuition fee only once per semester, even when enrolled in several programmes or at several universities. Non-degree students who only attend single courses pay €363.36 a semester, whatever their nationality. The fee is due in advance for each semester and stays with the university that collects it. One public university works differently: the Universität für Weiterbildung Krems teaches only continuing-education programmes, for which every Austrian public university must charge a Weiterbildungsstudienbeitrag. Each programme sets its own price instead of the § 91 rate, and the fee already includes the ÖH contribution (Universität für Weiterbildung Krems: fees).

Who Is Exempt from Tuition Fees at Austrian Public Universities?

The Rektorat of your university decides every waiver on application, and you can appeal a refusal to the Bundesverwaltungsgericht. The BMFWF lists eight waiver grounds plus leave. Health, childcare, disability and study-grant waivers apply even after the standard duration plus two tolerance semesters. Mobility and partner-university waivers cover only the semesters they name. The ÖH fee of €26.20 is never waived.

Two traps catch applicants. A waiver obtained with incomplete or false information costs you double the tuition fee, according to the BMFWF. And the ÖH warns that most refund grounds do little for third-country students on a § 64 NAG permit: for them, the least-developed-country list, mobility programmes and partner agreements are the waivers that realistically apply. Holders of dual citizenship that includes an EU passport are treated as EU students.

Which Scholarships Fund International Students in Austria?

No Austrian scholarship pays for a full degree at a public university for most international students. The OeAD, Austria's agency for education and internationalisation, runs the Ernst Mach family of grants, and each one funds a stay, not a degree. The worldwide grant funds research projects of 1 to 9 months for researchers up to 35, and its window now closes on 1 December. The FH grant funds 4 to 10 months at a Fachhochschule for students from universities outside Europe.

The worldwide grant needs an Austrian supervisor who agrees to host you, and that search takes months. Start contacting professors in August or September, not a few weeks before the deadline. Once enrolled, ask your university about its own Leistungsstipendium (merit grant) and Förderungsstipendium (thesis grant) under the Studienförderungsgesetz. Search every programme open to your country on grants.at, the OeAD scholarship database.

How Much Does It Cost to Live as a Student in Austria?

A student in Austria spends about €800 to €1,400 per month on rent, food, transport, and insurance, so a full academic year runs roughly €10,300 to €18,250 (study-abroad.org, 2026). Vienna is the most expensive city at €1,000 to €1,400 per month; Klagenfurt is the cheapest at €750 to €1,000. Add student health cover on top of this budget.

The official guideline sits at the top of that range. Study in Austria, the OeAD portal, puts a student budget at about €1,300 a month: €450 to €700 for accommodation, about €300 for food and about €500 for study and personal needs. The figures come from the Studierenden-Sozialerhebung 2025 by Statistik Austria and the IHS, and Vienna runs higher than smaller towns.

For a student permit, the immigration authority does not use that guideline. It checks the legal minimum instead: €722.58 a month under 24 and €1,308.39 from 24 in 2026, shown 12 months in advance, plus any rent above €386.43. Our proof of funds guide shows the full calculation and the documents the authority accepts.

What Language Requirements Apply for Public Universities?

Can International Students Work in Austria?

EU, EEA and Swiss students have free labour market access: no permit and no hour cap. Third-country students need their employer to obtain a Beschäftigungsbewilligung from AMS, which AMS grants for up to 20 hours a week without a labour market test. That permit is required even for marginal work, so a few hours of bar shifts still need the paperwork.

Staying on after the degree is the part most applicants plan too late. Once you graduate, the student residence permit can be renewed once for 12 months so you can look for work or found a business. After that, the Rot-Weiß-Rot-Karte for graduates takes over, and it is the easiest version of that card: no points test and no labour market test. Graduating from an Austrian public university is therefore the cheapest route into the Austrian labour market for a third-country national, since the degree itself cost €726.72 a semester at most.

Entity References

Full factual profiles for each brand covered on this page:

• University of Vienna

  Austrian Public Universities

• TU Wien

  Austrian Public Universities

• Danube University Krems

  Austrian Public Universities

• WU Wien

  Austrian Public Universities

• University of Graz

  Austrian Public Universities

• University of Innsbruck

  Austrian Public Universities

• Johannes Kepler University Linz

  Austrian Public Universities