Support for students
Depending on the university, students receive merit- and need-based scholarships and grants in different amounts.
The average amount of the merit- and need-based scholarships and grants for students differs from one university to the next. This is the finding of a parliamentarian inquiry by Science Minister Reinhold Mitterlehner. An average of 900 euros is distributed per student receiving aid per academic year.
Outstanding student performance is rewarded with merit-based scholarships and grants. The requirements include maintaining the minimum programme length for the respective academic phase plus one semester, as well as a grade point average no lower than 2.0. The individual universities can impose stricter rules, however. Need-based grants help with the completion of extensive scientific and artistic projects, such as a diploma thesis or dissertation.
Upper limit
During academic year 2013⁄14 a total of some 7,300 university students were awarded a merit-based scholarship and 500 received need-based grants ; the figures for 2014⁄15 were 6,700 and 400, respectively. In 2013⁄14 6.8 million euros were awarded, 6.6 million euros the next year. The minimum award is 750 euros. The maximum award for merit scholarships is 1,500 euros per year and 3,600 euros for aid grants.
Students receiving funding at the Mozarteum and the University for Applied Arts receive only the minimum amount. Aid levels at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and the University of Vienna were also relatively low. Disbursements at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna were comparatively high at 1,200 and 1,300 euros. The highest average grant for 2014⁄15 was at the Medical University of Graz with more than 1,600 euros per student.