How Much Does It Cost to Study in Austria?

The real cost of studying in Austria (summary)

Austria is one of the cheapest countries in Europe to hold a university place and one of the more expensive to live in while you hold it. Tuition at a public university is €726.72 per semester for students from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Morocco, billed twice an academic year, plus the student union fee of €26.20 per semester. Living costs are the real bill: €1,250–1,500 per month on the national OeAD estimate. Health insurance adds €946.08 per year. The residence permit costs €218 and the entry visa a further €195, both paid once. Two things move the total: the city, because Vienna and Innsbruck sit well above Klagenfurt or Krems, and the type of institution, because a private bachelor’s runs €18,000–24,068 per year. Students from Uganda and Zambia pay no tuition at all, only the union fee.

Tuition fees in Austria: public and private universities

Austria charges one flat national tuition fee, the Studienbeitrag, and it does not change with your degree level. A bachelor’s at a public university costs €726.72 per semester and a master’s €726.72 per semester. Third-country nationals pay from the first semester, without the fee-free period EU, EEA and Swiss students get. Medicine costs the same €726.72 per semester at the medical universities, so money is never what stops an African applicant there — the statutory quota is, because almost every MedAT place is reserved for EU citizens and only a small national share is left for everyone else.

Every student also pays the ÖH student union fee of €26.20 per semester, and students from Uganda and Zambia pay only that, because both countries sit on Austria’s least-developed-country exemption list. Students from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Morocco pay the full rate every semester, with no reduction for later years.

Private universities are a different market and their fee sheets look nothing alike. A private bachelor’s costs €18,000–24,068 per year and a private master’s €14,000–22,000 per year, at institutions such as MODUL University Vienna and Webster Vienna Private University. IMC Krems, a university of applied sciences, prices per semester and by subject group, with science and technology programmes charged above business and health.

There is no national application portal and no national fee schedule beyond the Studienbeitrag. Each of Austria’s 77 recognised institutions runs its own admission process and publishes its own charges, so read the fee page of the exact programme rather than assuming a single rate. Our Austrian universities list has the fee bands side by side.

Living costs in Austria

Plan for €1,250–1,500 per month. Rent is the part you can control, and it is set by the city, not by the university. Vienna runs €1,200–1,600 per month, with a room in a student residence or shared flat at €450–900 per month. Graz is cheaper at €1,000–1,300 per month on rent of €250–500 per month, and Klagenfurt cheaper still at €1,100–1,500 per month with rent from €250–500 per month. Krems is the lowest in our dataset, €850–1,000 per month on rent of €335–550 per month. Linz sits at €1,050–1,400 per month. Innsbruck at €1,150–1,650 per month and Salzburg at €1,150–1,600 per month are the most expensive student cities. Food, a semester transport pass and a phone plan are inside those totals; rent is what separates them.

The figure the immigration authority uses is different and much lower: €722.58 a month for applicants under 24, the ASVG subsistence minimum. Clearing that threshold gets you the permit; it does not pay for a room in Vienna. Prove the legal figure, budget from the city figure.

Health insurance

Cover is mandatory and there is no nationality exemption — the tuition waiver for Uganda and Zambia does not extend to insurance. The ÖGK student self-insurance costs €78.84 per month, or €946.08 per year. Before the residence permit is granted you need travel or health cover with a minimum sum of €30,000; once you are enrolled, the statutory student policy is accepted as all-risk cover. It pays for treatment, hospital stays and medication, but not sick-pay or maternity cash benefits. Eligibility runs to the standard length of your programme plus four semesters plus one tolerance semester, and at most two programme changes.

Proof of funds for the Austria student visa

This is where African applications most often fail. You must show €722.58–1,308.39 per month, tiered by age: the lower rate if you are under 24, the higher one from 24. The basis is the ASVG Ausgleichszulagenrichtsatz (statutory subsistence minimum), tiered by age, effective since 1 Jan 2026, and it must be covered for twelve months in advance, not month by month. The money can sit in an accessible bank or savings account in your own name, or be backed by a Haftungserklärung from an EU resident, traveller’s cheques or a scholarship-award confirmation. If parents or a sponsor fund you, their last six months’ bank statements and proof of income are required. Rent above the official accommodation ceiling must be covered by extra documented funds on top, and the thresholds rise on 1 January 2027, so budget above today’s rate. The full checklist is on Austria student visa requirements, and our proof of funds guide explains how the evidence is read.

Cheapest universities and student cities

Every public university charges the same €726.72 per semester, so “cheapest” is decided by the city rather than the fee sheet. University of Klagenfurt sits in Austria’s cheapest university city, €1,100–1,500 per month. University of Graz and Graz University of Technology share Graz at €1,000–1,300 per month, the cheapest of the larger student cities. Johannes Kepler University Linz is mid-pack, €1,050–1,400 per month. University of Vienna, TU Wien and WU Vienna charge identical tuition, but you pay the difference in rent at €450–900 per month. University of Salzburg and University of Innsbruck are the most expensive on living costs, whatever their tuition says.

Choosing Graz, Linz or Klagenfurt over Vienna saves several hundred euros a month for the same tuition and the same degree recognition. The trade-off is fewer English-taught programmes at bachelor’s level and a smaller part-time job market. If you are comparing countries rather than cities, see the cheapest countries in Europe to study.

How to cover the costs

Two national routes exist. OeAD grants are open to applicants from Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and restricted for Ghana, South Africa and Morocco; Erasmus Mundus is open to all nine countries we work with. Both are competitive, so apply and then plan as if you had not won. The tuition exemption is the one reliable saving, and it is nationality-based: Uganda and Zambia only.

Work helps at the margin. Term-time work has one rule you cannot design around: 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. Austria has no statutory minimum wage, and full-time collective-agreement pay sits at €1,983–2,217 per month, so a capped student job covers groceries, not rent and tuition. Nothing you expect to earn in Austria counts towards the funds you must prove before you arrive. More detail on Austria scholarships and the OeAD scheme.