Master's Degree in Austria for African Students

What a master’s degree in Austria looks like

The degree is a Masterstudium: Master of Arts, Master of Science, LL.M. or Master of Education on the certificate, and Diplom-Ingenieur in engineering. It is worth 120 ECTS, which is four semesters of full-time study. Programmes of 60 or 90 ECTS exist as exceptions, so the published length runs 1 to 2 years, but two years is the mainstream.

Teaching starts twice a year, in October, March; October is the larger intake and the one most third-country applicants use.

Master’s level is where English-taught study in Austria actually sits. Public universities list almost no English bachelor’s degrees, but the University of Vienna runs 43 English master’s, the University of Graz 30, TU Graz 23, the University of Salzburg 20 and TU Wien 19.

German-taught master’s programmes require C1 German at admission, so the language, not the subject, usually decides your shortlist. An Austrian master’s is a full second-cycle degree and gives direct access to a doctorate.

Is an African bachelor’s accepted?

The statutory floor is a subject-related higher-education degree of at least three years or 180 ECTS, so a three-year African bachelor’s is admissible in principle. The OeAD ENIC-NARIC West Africa recommendation of March 2026 narrows that for two origins. A Nigerian applicant needs a bachelor’s of at least four years from a CEP Section 1 institution, or at least five years from a CEP Section 2 institution. A Ghanaian applicant needs a regular full-time bachelor’s from a CEP Section 1 or 2 institution. Shorter and top-up degrees from both can still reach a master’s, with up to four supplementary examinations or forty ECTS of extra coursework.

The other seven origins have no published country rule; each degree is assessed individually against the three-year floor and subject fit.

There is no national minimum grade. Admission turns on equivalence and subject fit, not on a second class upper or a GPA cut-off, and no flagship university publishes one.

Universities apply the rule themselves. TU Wien assesses an African bachelor’s of at least 180 ECTS through the Dean: a gap of 30 ECTS or less becomes supplementary master’s courses, a larger gap is inadmissible. The University of Vienna accepts a three-year, same-discipline bachelor’s with no fixed CGPA, and WU Vienna checks equivalence case by case. Innsbruck lists Ghana and Nigeria for individual review; Salzburg asks for a letter from your home institution confirming master’s eligibility there.

There is no central credential check, so two Austrian universities can reach different answers on the same transcript. Documents must be legalised: an apostille suffices for South Africa and Morocco; the other seven origins need full consular legalisation.

How much a master’s costs in Austria

At a public university the master’s fee is €726.72 per semester for third-country nationals, the same rate as a bachelor’s, because the Studienbeitrag is set by nationality, not degree level. On top sits the ÖH student union fee of €26.20 per semester, which every student pays. Ugandan and Zambian citizens are on Austria’s least-developed-country exemption list and pay only the ÖH fee; the other seven origins are not exempt.

Private universities and Fachhochschulen set their own prices: €14,000–22,000 per year is the private master’s band, and IMC Krems charges €6,900–9,500 per semester.

Living costs decide the budget, not tuition. The national estimate is €1,250–1,500 per month, with Vienna at €1,200–1,600 per month and Graz at €1,000–1,300 per month. Health insurance through ÖGK costs €78.84 per month, or €946.08 per year.

Budget two semesters of fees, twelve months of insurance and twelve months at your city’s rate: tuition is the smallest line. Compare cities in the full cost of studying in Austria.

English requirements for a master’s

The national floor at master’s level is IELTS 6.5, but it is a convention, not a law: each university sets its own band, and the residence-permit checklist contains no language condition.

IELTS 6.5 opens the University of Vienna, TU Wien, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Salzburg and MedUni Vienna. IELTS 7 adds WU Vienna, the University of Graz, TU Graz, JKU Linz, MODUL University Vienna and IMC Krems.

A medium-of-instruction letter is accepted in some places, not others. IMC Krems, MODUL University Vienna and MedUni Vienna accept one; Graz and Salzburg decide case by case; the University of Vienna, TU Wien, JKU Linz, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt and WU Vienna do not.

Ask the admissions office in writing whether your English-medium degree exempts you before paying for a test. See studying in Austria without IELTS.

Universities to look at for a master’s

University of Vienna sits at #140 (QS 2027) and carries the widest English choice in the country, at €726.72 per semester and IELTS 6.5.

TU Wien, #191 (QS 2027), runs nineteen English master’s in engineering and informatics at €726.72 per semester. Its winter 2027/28 non-EU window is 16 January to 15 July 2027.

University of Graz teaches thirty English master’s at €726.72 per semester, IELTS 7, in a city costing €1,000–1,300 per month and shared with TU Graz (#409 (QS 2027), twenty-three English master’s, IELTS 7).

University of Salzburg, #572 (QS 2027), lists twenty English master’s at the same public fee, IELTS 6.5, non-EU deadline of 10 August for the winter semester.

JKU Linz, #458 (QS 2027), is the option for business, law and artificial intelligence, with six English master’s and living costs of €1,050–1,400 per month.

University of Klagenfurt, #683 (QS 2027), runs eleven English master’s in informatics, data science and media at IELTS 6.5, in Austria’s cheapest university city.

WU Vienna is the business specialist, with nine English master’s at the public fee but a high band of IELTS 7.

Two private options teach entirely in English at their own prices: MODUL University Vienna, five master’s at €7,000–11,000 per semester, and IMC Krems, seven at €6,900–9,500 per semester in a town costing €850–1,000 per month. Both accept a medium-of-instruction letter.

Scholarships for a master’s

Two national routes exist, and only one funds a whole master’s.

Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters covers tuition in full and pays €1,400 per month for the whole programme, twelve, eighteen or twenty-four months. All nine of our countries are eligible; you apply to the consortium, not to Austria, and need no admission letter first.

The OeAD Ernst Mach Grants pay €1,300 per month with tuition waived, but fund stays of one to nine months, not a whole degree. Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe are eligible; Ghana, South Africa and Morocco are restricted. Applications close 1 December 2026 for 2027/28, age limit 35.

No Austrian scheme routinely funds a full non-EU master’s, which is why the low public fee matters more than any scholarship. See Austria scholarships for African students.

How to apply for a master’s in Austria

1. Check equivalence first, a year ahead. Send your transcript to each admissions office and ask whether your bachelor’s is accepted and what supplementary examinations are prescribed.
2. Shortlist by language. Pick three to five English-taught programmes, or budget C1 German, and check each IELTS band against your score.
3. Apply to each university directly. There is no central portal like UCAS or uni-assist; the official orientation page is studyinaustria.at, but applications go to the university.
4. Work to the non-EU deadline, not the statutory one. The statutory dates are 5 September for winter and 5 February for summer; third-country windows close earlier — the University of Vienna 22 June to 3 August, TU Wien 16 January to 15 July 2027, Salzburg to 10 August.
5. Legalise and translate. Get the diploma and transcript apostilled or consular-legalised, with court-certified translations if they are not in German or English.
6. Prove your English, or obtain the medium-of-instruction letter where accepted.
7. Accept the offer and pay, then arrange ÖGK insurance and accommodation; dormitory places go early.
8. Apply for the residence permit at the Austrian embassy in your country, allowing 13 to 26 weeks and €218: see Austria student visa requirements.

After the master’s

Graduates get a 12-month extension of the student residence permit to look for work or found a business, at €218. With a matching job offer it converts to a Rot-Weiß-Rot Karte for graduates, valid a further twenty-four months with no labour-market test.

During the master’s itself, part-time work is permit-bound: Up to 20 hours/week; an employer-obtained AMS 'Beschäftigungsbewilligung' is required for ALL paid work, even minor (geringfügig) jobs, but no full labour-market test applies at or below 20h/week. There is no holiday exception.

A doctorate is the other route: tuition stays at €726.72 per semester and a funded praedoc post pays €3,776.10 per month, though not every candidate gets one. See doing a PhD in Austria.