Austria

• The IB Diploma is explicitly named by the ministry as satisfying the general university entrance qualification - no equivalence procedure, no nostrification.
• EU/EEA students pay no tuition during the normal length of the degree plus two tolerance semesters; the only compulsory payment is the OeH fee of 26.20 EUR per semester.
• No entrance exam for most subjects - if you have the Diploma and the German, you enrol.
• In Vienna, student transport and culture are heavily discounted.
• Deadlines are late by European standards: the general admission period for the winter semester runs into early September, which fits an IB student with July results.

• German is the real barrier. Austrian universities expect proof of German, typically a school certificate showing at least four years of German lessons or a recognised language diploma.
• English-taught bachelor's at public universities are scarce. The English-taught options are mostly private universities and Fachhochschulen, which charge real fees.
• Popular subjects are access-regulated (zugangsgeregelt) and have their own registration windows that close months before the general deadline - often in spring, before your results exist.
• Medicine is the extreme case: for the 2026 intake MedAT registration closed on 31 March 2026 for a test on 3 July 2026, so you commit to Austrian medicine three months before IB results day. The 2027 dates were not published on 23 September 2026.
• Once you pass the standard study duration plus two tolerance semesters, the 363.36 EUR per semester tuition fee starts, so a slow degree costs money.

Accepted

Yes

Minimum

A properly acquired IB Diploma. The Austrian ministry names the IB Diploma as satisfying the general university entrance qualification without further procedure; no separate Austrian points threshold above the IB's own pass standard (24 points and the IB's pass conditions) is published.

Subjects and levels

None published. Unlike Germany and Switzerland, Austria does not impose an IB subject-combination rule for general university entrance. What can be imposed is a subject-specific requirement for an individual degree (besondere Universitaetsreife), for example a supplementary examination in Latin or in a particular subject - this is set by the individual university's curriculum, not centrally.

• The legal position (bmfwf.gv.at): a foreign certificate gives general university entrance either (a) because the university finds it opens higher education in the issuing country and shows no substantial difference from an Austrian Reifepruefungszeugnis, or (b) because it is one of the named certificates - which explicitly include a properly acquired IB Diploma and the European Baccalaureate - or (c) through at least three years of completed higher education elsewhere.
• The admitting university's Studienabteilung makes the decision. There is no central Austrian recognition authority for school-leaving certificates.
• No official IB-points-to-Austrian-grade conversion table is published. Austrian admission is normally pass/fail against the qualification rather than ranked by grade, except where an entrance procedure applies.
• Admission to a specific degree can still depend on extra prerequisites - language proof, or a supplementary examination (Ergaenzungspruefung) in a subject the curriculum requires. Check the curriculum of the exact degree, and get this confirmed by the university in writing; the current Latin/Biology/Maths supplementary rules are not confirmed here.

1. From autumn 2026, pick the degree first and read its curriculum - that is where any subject prerequisite or supplementary examination is written down.

2. Check whether the degree is access-regulated. If it is, find the registration window now; it will close long before the general September deadline.

3. Sort out German. If the degree is German-taught you need documented German, and building that takes a year, not a month.

4. Register on the university's application portal when the admission period opens in June 2027 and upload your school documents.

5. Send your IB Diploma as soon as it arrives in early July 2027. The application must be in by the September close; admission itself is completed in the separate admission period, which at the University of Vienna ran to 31 October.

6. Pay the OeH fee, collect your student ID, and register your address (Meldezettel) and your EU registration certificate after you arrive.

Most Austrian degrees are open: meet the entrance qualification and the language requirement and you are admitted. A defined list of subjects is access-regulated with a capped number of places and its own entrance procedure - medicine and dentistry through the MedAT, and a set of high-demand subjects such as psychology, business, computer science, biology, pharmacy and architecture at individual universities. The exact list and place numbers change, so verify per university for 2027/28.

• 22 June to 5 September 2027

  University of Vienna — application period for the winter semester

  Applies to: EU, EEA and Swiss citizens, and non-EU citizens with equivalent status

  Hard deadline Via n Austrian university for winter semester 2027

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  The 2026/27 date carried forward. Other public universities run similar windows; check your own.

  The University of Vienna's page, as of 23 September 2026, dates this window precisely and for the cycle that has just closed: "Winter semester 2026/27: from 22 June to 5 September 2026". The 2027/28 window was not published. The 5 September close is the standard Austrian winter-semester cut-off and Study in Austria repeats it with no year at all, so it is carried here provisionally for 2027; the 22 June opening is the University of Vienna's own and could move. Other universities publish their own periods and usually land on the same September date. Applying is not the same as being admitted: admission itself has its own later period, which is a separate entry here.

  Source 1 · Source 2

• 6 July 2027

  IB results released

  Via n Austrian university for winter semester 2027

• 13 July to 31 October 2027
  2027/28 entry — projected from the 2026/27 period; the 2027/28 dates were still not published on 2026-09-24

  University of Vienna — admission period, when admission is actually granted and you enrol

  Hard deadline

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  The University of Vienna's page, as of 23 September 2026, gives it as "Winter semester 2026/27: from 13 July to 31 October 2026". Submitting an application inside the June-to-September window does not enrol you; you complete admission, pay the OeH fee and are matriculated inside this later period, and 31 October is the statutory end of it for the winter semester. The 13 July opening is a week after IB results, which is why the Austrian calendar works for an IB student at all.

  Source

• 3 August 2027

  University of Vienna closes — non-EU/EEA applicants

  Applies to: applicants from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland

  Hard deadline Via n Austrian university for winter semester 2027

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  The 2026/27 date carried forward.

  Published on the same page as "Winter semester 2026/27: from 22 June to 3 August 2026", so this site assumes the same window in 2027, and the day could move. If you are not an EU/EEA/Swiss citizen the window closes about a month earlier than everyone else's and you also need a residence permit, which takes months and cannot be started until you are admitted.

  Source

• 5 September 2027

  General closing date at public universities — EU/EEA/Swiss applicants

  Hard deadline Via n Austrian university for winter semester 2027

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  5 September is the general public-university date for the winter semester. Fachhochschulen and private universities set their own, usually earlier.

• 5 February 2028
  Summer semester 2028, the first an IB student finishing in May 2027 could enter

  Summer semester intake — application closes

  Applies to: EU, EEA and Swiss citizens; third-country nationals close a month earlier

  Hard deadline

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  Study in Austria publishes the summer-semester close as "February 5" with no year, which is why this is resolved here to the summer semester of 2027/28. The University of Vienna page dates the matching window for the cycle just gone as "Summer semester 2027: from 16 November 2026 to 5 February 2027", so the window opens in mid-November of the preceding year — about eleven weeks, not a single day. Third-country nationals get a shorter window, published as closing 7 January rather than 5 February. Not all degrees admit in the summer semester, and most IB students will be aiming at the September start instead.

  Source 1 · Source 2

• Set by each institution

  Degrees with an entrance procedure — registration closes in spring

  Via n Austrian university for winter semester 2027

  Details

  Medicine (MedAT), psychology, business and other access-regulated degrees have their own registration windows, usually in spring and months before IB results. Miss it and that degree is closed for the year.

• Not yet announced for this intake
  2027 entry — the 2027 dates were still not published on 2026-09-24

  MedAT — registration and fee payment for the human and dental medicine entrance test

  Applies to: anyone applying for human or dental medicine at an Austrian public university

  Hard deadline

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  Precedent, from medizinstudieren.at (in German, as of 23 September 2026): registration for the 2026 intake ran "02.03.2026 bis 31.03.2026 (24:00 Uhr)", and the same window was the deadline for the Kostenbeteiligung, the participation fee of about 110 EUR. The fee must have reached the university's account inside the window rather than merely have been sent, so a bank transfer started in the last days of March can fail and take the registration with it. Registration is online at medizinstudieren.at and is binding. It closes more than three months before IB results day, so you commit to Austrian medicine before you know your grades. The four medical universities publish the binding dates for the following intake in January, so re-check from January 2027.

  Source 1 · Source 2

• Not yet announced for this intake
  2027 entry — the 2027 date was still not published on 2026-09-24

  MedAT — test day for human and dental medicine

  Applies to: anyone applying for human or dental medicine at an Austrian public university

  Hard deadline

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  Precedent, from medizinstudieren.at (in German, as of 23 September 2026): "Der Aufnahmetest findet am Freitag, 3. Juli 2026". It is a single day, sat simultaneously at all four medical universities; 13,248 candidates sat it for 1,950 places (784 Vienna, 430 Innsbruck, 406 Graz, 330 Linz). Results follow in calendar week 32. The 2027 sitting is a different day and was not published; commercial preparation sites predict early July 2027 and no official page confirms it.

  Source 1 · Source 2

• Set by each institution
  2027/28 entry

  Degrees with an entrance procedure (Aufnahmeverfahren) — registration closes long before the general deadline

  Details

  Study in Austria states that for programmes with entrance examinations the "closing date for application for entrance examinations can be up to 6 months before the beginning of the semester", and names the medical universities, the arts universities and the Fachhochschulen. For a September 2027 start that can mean registering in spring 2027, before you have any IB results. There is no central list: the window belongs to the individual university and degree, so find it on that university's own admission page. The University of Vienna's own window is a worked example and has its own entry below.

  Source

• Not yet announced for this intake
  2027/28 entry — the 2027/28 window was still not published on 2026-09-24

  University of Vienna — application window for bachelor's degrees that have an entrance examination

  Applies to: all applicants regardless of citizenship

  Hard deadline

  Details

  After this the door closes.

  Precedent, as published on 23 September 2026: "Academic year 2026/27: from 2 March to 4 May 2026", applying to all applicants whatever their citizenship. That is four months before the ordinary application period opens and fifteen months before an IB student's results exist, so a Vienna degree with an entrance examination has to be decided in the spring of the year before. The Sport Science bachelor runs the same 2 March to 4 May window for the winter semester. The 2027/28 dates were not published; re-check the University of Vienna admission page from January 2027.

  Source

English-taught bachelors

Limited. Public universities teach bachelor's degrees overwhelmingly in German; the exceptions include six English-taught bachelor's at the University of Klagenfurt, Artificial Intelligence at JKU Linz and Business and Economics (BBE) at WU Vienna. Otherwise English-taught bachelor's are at private universities (MODUL University Vienna, Webster Vienna, Lauder Business School) and universities of applied sciences (IMC Krems, MCI Innsbruck, FHWien der WKW). Do not assume a programme is in English - check the language of instruction field on studienwahl.at for each one.

Proving your English

For English-taught programmes, IB English A is normally accepted and English B HL usually is; requirements are set per institution and are not confirmed here; check with the university.

Local language needed?

Yes, for most programmes

• Study in Austria states that proof of German is mandatory for most programmes, and that acceptable proof includes a school leaving certificate confirming German lessons of at least four years, or a German language diploma.
• Four years of German B in the IB may satisfy this, but get it confirmed in writing by the university before you rely on it.
• If your German is not accepted, the route in is the Vorstudienlehrgang (university preparation programme), which adds time and cost.
• Even at an English-taught private university, daily life in Vienna, Graz or Innsbruck runs in German.

Tuition, EU/EEA

No tuition fee during the standard duration of the degree plus two tolerance semesters. After that it is 363.36 EUR per semester. You always pay the OeH student union fee of 26.20 EUR per semester. (2026/27)

Tuition, non-EU

726.72 EUR per semester from the first semester, plus the 26.20 EUR OeH fee, giving 752.92 EUR per semester. Some exemptions exist for students from certain countries and for scholarship holders. (2026/27)

Living costs

About 1,300 EUR per month: accommodation 450-700 EUR in a hall of residence, food around 300 EUR, and around 500 EUR for transport, study materials and everything else. Vienna is above the average, smaller cities below it. (2026 (based on Studierenden-Sozialerhebung 2025, IHS/Statistik Austria))

• The official Study in Austria fees page still shows an older OeH figure of 25.20 EUR and a non-EU total of 751.92 EUR. The 26.20 EUR figure from the OeH itself and from the University of Vienna is the current one; the OeH fee is index-linked and announced each year by 1 May, so expect a small increase before 2027/28.
• Fachhochschulen may charge tuition of their own - each one sets it, so check the individual school (IMC Krems and MCI both charge EU students 363.36 EUR per semester).
• Private universities and non-EU places at Fachhochschulen cost real money. Examples: IMC Krems charges non-EU students 6,900 or 9,500 EUR per semester and MCI 8,250 EUR (2026). MODUL and Webster fees were not on their admissions pages.

Funding you could actually get

• Danish SU can follow you here if you can claim it (Danish citizens, or EU/EEA citizens with equal status under EU rules) and meet the ties-to-Denmark requirement. The programme must be SU-approved, and outside the Nordics SU is capped at four years (48 klip). It is usually the biggest single source of money. If you cannot claim SU, look first at your own country's student finance: several EU/EEA systems fund a full degree in another country.
• OeAD administers Austrian scholarship schemes; the scholarship database at grants.at is the official place to search.
• Individual universities and Fachhochschulen run their own merit and hardship funds - ask the student advisory service directly.
• Erasmus+ applies once you are enrolled and want to spend a period in another country.

Residency

EU/EEA citizens staying longer than three months must obtain a Confirmation of Registration (Anmeldebescheinigung) for students, on top of the ordinary address registration (Meldezettel) that everyone in Austria completes after moving in. No visa or residence permit is needed. Non-EU students need a student residence permit applied for before travelling. Source: OeAD entry and residence pages.

Working

As an EU/EEA citizen you have free access to the Austrian labour market with no permit and no hour cap; you are limited only by tax and social-insurance thresholds for marginal employment. Non-EU students with a student residence permit can be given a work permit for up to 20 hours a week, without a labour-market check; the employer applies for it (OeAD).

Housing

Student halls are run by providers such as OeAD Housing, OeJAB and Home4Students rather than by the universities themselves, and the good ones fill up over the summer - apply as soon as you decide on a city. Vienna has the largest supply but also the most competition in September; Graz, Innsbruck, Linz and Salzburg are easier. Private shared flats are the fallback and are advertised in German.

Healthcare

Health insurance is compulsory. With your EHIC you are covered for necessary treatment, but for a full degree you will normally want proper Austrian cover: students who are not covered through a parent or a job can take out student self-insurance with the OeGK. Register with an Austrian insurer soon after arriving and carry your e-card. Student self-insurance with the OeGK costs 78.84 EUR a month in 2026.

Your IB is still a foreign qualification here, so the IB entry rules still apply to you.