08 - Austria - Financial support for students

Colleges and other training institutions for health occupations

Students at paramedical colleges and midwifery colleges may apply for a grant.

Universities

A number of direct and indirect aids are granted to students from the public purse. Indirect aids are granted irrespective of social neediness and account for the largest share of government aids. The indirect aids include family allowance, insurance cover under parents' health insurance or self-insurance, statutory accident insurance, and tax breaks granted to parents whose children study in the tertiary sector.

Direct aids granted under the 1992 'Studienförderungsgesetz'  are means-tested and linked to academic performance. Social neediness is defined on the basis of student earnings and/or the earnings of those liable for their support. The special allowances include travel allowance, aids for studies abroad, end-of- studies grants for students to complete their studies (paid out up to an age limit of 41 years), as well as grants to cover tuition fees. Child-care aid or study support may be granted in exceptional cases.

Eligible are students who are

• Austrian citizens or nationals of an EU or EEA country who meet certain requirements;
• third-country nationals who were granted a long-term residence permit and
• stateless persons who together with at least one parent were liable to pay income tax and had their main life interest in Austria for a period of at least five years;
• Convention refugees who study at an Austrian university, Fachhochschule or other post-secondary education institution.

Eligibility for study allowances is tied to two major criteria: social neediness, which is dependent on parental income, student income, family status and family size, and academic performance. A special form of allowance is the 'self-earner grant' for students who had to make their own living for a period no less than four years, earning at least EUR 7,272 a year prior to receiving a study allowance. For these grants, parental income will not be considered. The requirement of academic performance still applies.

Students may be entitled to support grants to complete research papers or performance grants for academic excellence.

The 2005 amendment to the "Studienförderungsgesetz" has improved access to study allowances for higher-level studies, increased mobility and facilitated the application procedures for end-of-study grants.

The Student Support Act also makes allowance for students having atypical preconditions, such as dependent children in their care.

A special Study Grants Agency was set up as a first-instance agency to process applications for study grants, study allowances and grants for studies abroad, for allowing and disbursing other aids, and for providing advice on student support schemes.

Support for students with special needs

Since the academic year of 1999/2000, the amount by which study grants are to be increased for disabled students has been linked to the degree of disability. There is a regulation which stipulates specific amounts according to types and degrees of disability. Regulation Federal Law Gazette II, No. 310/2004 lays down two levels of study grant increases: a monthly amount of EUR 160 for severely visually impaired persons and wheelchair students and EUR 420 for severely hearing-impaired students. Since 1999 disabled students have also been entitled to an extension of the periods during which financial support will be granted. Generally these periods are extended by one semester per study cycle for all students whose degree of disability is at least 50 percent. The periods during which financial support will be granted may be extended by up to 50 percent of the ordinary total duration of studies if students have specific disabilities which interfere with study progress. In order to facilitate access to studies for disabled students, the state (since the academic year of 2001/2002) may grant financial support to disabled students who wish to participate in distance learning programmes of non-Austrian universities

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