13 best universities in Vienna for foreign students. Description, rankings, 2023 fees
- Education information
- TOP universities in Vienna
- The best universities in Vienna – how to apply?
- Tuition fee in the private universities in Vienna for the foreign students
- Grants, scholarships for the international students
- The universities in Vienna ranking – TOP 5
- Top 15 best universities in Switzerland 2022
- Top 10 best universities in Netherlands 2022
- Top 35 best universities and colleges in Canada 2022
- Times Higher Education’s top 50 best universities in USA 2022
- Top 50 best universities in the UK 2022










Alternative destinations
Education information
Austria is famous for its high-quality higher education in German and English and interesting academic programs. Austrian universities do not lag behind the trends of modernity, therefore, only advanced methods are used in teaching, and educational institutions are equipped according to the best standards. Every year, the European country receives many foreign students who want to get a first-class education and a valuable diploma in order to successfully find a job in prestigious Austrian and international companies in the future.
Higher education institutions in Vienna provide high-quality academic education to students from different countries. Vienna universities accept applicants for many specialties without entrance exams. Some universities are loyal to the level of German language proficiency and even provide additional courses at the educational institution.
TOP universities in Vienna
Vienna is home to some of the oldest and most famous universities in Europe. There are large state universities here, as well as several private universities. The University of Vienna, one of the oldest and largest in Europe, was founded in 1365. This is an international university, where students from 130 countries study. There are 9 Nobel laureates among the graduates of the University of Vienna. University of Vienna is the alma mater of Erwin Schrodinger. A quarter of the students of the Vienna Technical University are foreign students. It was this university that Ferdinand Porsche and Josef Strauss graduated from. The university is known for achievements in economics, engineering, physics. The Vienna University of Economics and Business is another international university known for its business education. Exchange programs are widespread at the university. Vienna Medical University is a large university where Sigmund Freud worked for 35 years. The Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts is the largest conservatory in Austria. The city is home to a branch of the private American Webster University.
The best universities in Vienna – how to apply?
To enroll in TOP universities in Vienna, the foreign students need to collect a package of documents and translate it into the language of instruction — German or English. The documents must be checked for errors, valid and notarized. The deadline for submitting documents for the winter semester is October 1, for the summer semester — March 1.
For admission to the university and further registration of the scholarship, a package of documents will be required:
- Completed entrance form from the university's website
- Diplomas and academic certificates with a list of grades and completed courses
- A certificate from a higher educational institution confirming the possibility of admission to the university
- Certificate of knowledge of the German language (ÖSD B2)
- Recommendation letters
- Portfolio
- Motivation letter.
The availability of entrance exams in the universities in Vienna depends on the specialty you are applying for, as well as on the competition. So, doctors, psychologists, lawyers, architects – they always pass entrance exams. Other faculties can accept applicants without exams, but only if the number of applicants is not too large. Otherwise, the best are chosen by testing. Universities of applied sciences always have exams, but they are held in the form of an interview.
Tuition fee in the private universities in Vienna for the foreign students
Citizens of EU countries can study at state universities for free, and for students from other countries the payment will be about $ 1,700-$1,800/year. If a foreign student studies in German, the cost will be about $ 800-$ 1200/year (for administrative fees and necessary academic expenses). In English, the price will be higher — from $ 1500 / year. Private institutions set rates from $ 1,000 to $ 45,000 per year — a lot depends on the prestige of the educational institution and its location.
Additional expenses:
- Registration fee — from 300€
- Medical insurance — from 200€/month
- Accommodation in Vienna — from 500€/month.
You also need to consider spending on food, transportation and pocket expenses. Many universities provide the opportunity to live in their own dorms.
Grants, scholarships for the international students
The management and distribution of grants and scholarships in Austria is handled by a centralized structure – the Agency for International Cooperation in Education and Research (OeAD-Gmbh).
Student funding can come from different sources, for example:
- Special scientific and cultural foundations
- National funds
- Austrian government organizations
- International organizations (UN, IAEA).
In total, almost 1,700 grants and scholarships are available here, but their number varies significantly by specialization: most programs are offered by programs:
- Biology
- Medical research
- Chemistry
- Physics.
It is difficult to find funding for a humanitarian specialty, but it is possible. Usually, grants are designed for a short period of time — for the time of writing a scientific paper or performing research in a certain field. It is quite difficult to get full funding, basically the scholarship covers one or two semesters. There are different types of scholarships in the format:
- Full payment for tuition and meals in the student canteen (accommodation, medical insurance, travel is paid by the recipient himself)
- Compensation of part of the tuition fee
- One-time payment for certain purposes
- Monthly payments that the recipient spends at his own discretion + payment for work and research trips.
Usually, the largest funding is offered for doctoral programs. Candidates who meet the requirements of the foundation have the opportunity to receive full funding for several years of scientific work — students will receive 2,000- 3,000 euro per month.
The universities in Vienna ranking – TOP 5
- Webster university
- Modul University
- Medical University of Vienna
- Technical University of Vienna
- Vienna University of Economics.
Top 15 best universities in Switzerland 2022
1 | Glion Institute of Higher Education Switzerland |
2 | Les Roches International School Montana |
3 | César Ritz Colleges Switzerland |
4 | IHTTI School of Hotel Management |
5 | Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne |
6 | Geneva Business School |
7 | EU Business School Montreux |
8 | HIM Hotel Institute Montreux |
9 | Swiss Hotel Management School |
10 | Webster University Geneva |
11 | Business and Hotel Management School |
12 | Luzern IMI |
13 | Swiss Hotel Management School (SHMS) Caux |
14 | International University in Geneva |
15 | Culinary Arts Academy Switzerland |
Top 10 best universities in Netherlands 2022
Top 35 best universities and colleges in Canada 2022
1 | University of Toronto |
2 | McGill University |
3 | University of British Columbia |
4 | University of Alberta |
5 | Simon Fraser University |
6 | Montreal University |
7 | University of Windsor |
8 | York University |
9 | University of Guelph |
10 | McMaster University |
11 | University of Manitoba |
12 | University of Waterloo |
13 | Royal Roads University |
14 | Vancouver Film School |
15 | Kwantlen Polytechnic University |
16 | University of Calgary |
17 | Dalhousie University |
18 | Fanshawe College |
19 | University of Ottawa |
20 | Laval University |
21 | Sheridan College |
22 | University of Regina |
23 | Brock University |
24 | Thompson Rivers University |
25 | Humber College |
26 | Vancouver Island University |
27 | Mohawk College |
28 | Centennial College Toronto |
29 | Niagara College |
30 | Capilano University |
31 | Seneca College |
32 | Algoma University |
33 | Saint Clair College |
34 | Douglas College |
35 | LaSalle College |
Times Higher Education’s top 50 best universities in USA 2022
World University Rank | US Rank | University | City | State |
2 | 1 | Stanford University | Stanford | California |
3 | 2 | Harvard University | Cambridge | Massachusetts |
4 | 3 | California Institute of Technology | Pasadena | California |
5 | 4 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge | Massachusetts |
7 | 5 | University of California, Berkeley | Berkeley | California |
8 | 6 | Yale University | New Haven | Connecticut |
9 | 7 | Princeton University | Princeton | New Jersey |
10 | 8 | University of Chicago | Chicago | Illinois |
12 | 9 | Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore | Maryland |
13 | 10 | University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania |
15 | 11 | University of California, Los Angeles | Los Angeles | California |
17 | 12 | Columbia University | New York City | New York |
19 | 13 | Cornell University | Ithaca | New York |
=20 | 14 | Duke University | Durham | North Carolina |
22 | 15 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | Ann Arbor | Michigan |
24 | 16 | Northwestern University | Evanston | Illinois |
26 | 17 | New York University | New York City | New York |
28 | 18 | Carnegie Mellon University | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania |
29 | 19 | University of Washington | Seattle | Washington |
33 | 20 | University of California, San Diego | San Diego | California |
38 | 21 | Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta | Georgia |
44 | 22 | University of Texas at Austin | Austin | Texas |
48 | 23 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Champaign | Illinois |
49 | 24 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | Madison | Wisconsin |
50 | 25 | Washington University in St Louis | St. Louis | Missouri |
53 | 26 | University of Southern California | Los Angeles | California |
=54 | 27 | Boston University | Boston | Massachusetts |
=56 | 28 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill | North Carolina |
61 | 29 | Brown University | Providence | Rhode Island |
=64 | 30 | University of California, Davis | Davis | California |
68 | 31 | University of California, Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara | California |
=80 | 32 | Ohio State University (Main campus) | Columbus | Ohio |
=85 | =33 | Emory University | Atlanta | Georgia |
=85 | =33 | University of Minnesota | Minneapolis | Minnesota |
90 | 35 | University of Maryland, College Park | College Park | Maryland |
=94 | 36 | Purdue University West Lafayette | West Lafayette | Indiana |
=98 | 37 | University of California, Irvine | Irvine | California |
=101 | 38 | Dartmouth College | Hanover | New Hampshire |
105 | 39 | Michigan State University | East Lansing | Michigan |
=111 | 40 | Vanderbilt University | Nashville | Tennessee |
=114 | 41 | Penn State (Main campus) | State College | Pennsylvania |
117 | 42 | University of Virginia (Main campus) | Charlottesville | Virginia |
120 | 43 | Georgetown University | Washington D.C | |
=121 | 44 | Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland | Ohio |
=124 | 45 | University of Arizona | Tucson | Arizona |
=124 | =45 | Rice University | Houston | Texas |
=131 | 47 | University of Colorado Boulder | Boulder | Colorado |
=133 | 48 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh campus | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania |
=140 | 49 | Indiana University | Bloomington | Indiana |
=147 | 50 | University of Rochester | Rochester (NY) | New York |
Top 50 best universities in the UK 2022
1 | Cambridge |
2 | Oxford |
3 | St Andrews |
4 | London School of Economics |
5 | Imperial College London |
6 | Loughborough |
7 | Durham |
8 | Lancaster |
9 | University of Bath |
10 | East Anglia (UEA) |
11 | University College London |
12 | Warwick |
13 | Exeter |
14 | Birmingham |
15 | Bristol |
16 | Edinburgh |
17 | Leeds |
18 | Manchester |
19 | Southampton |
20 | Glasgow |
21 | King's College London |
22 | Nottingham |
23 | York |
24 | Newcastle |
25 | Royal Holloway, University of London |
26 | East Anglia (UEA) |
27 | Aberdeen |
28 | Queen's University Belfast |
29 | Sheffield |
30 | Heriot-Watt |
31 | Cardiff |
32 | Dundee |
33 | Swansea |
34 | Liverpool |
35 | Surrey |
36 | Queen Mary, University of London |
37 | SOAS University of London |
38 | Leicester |
39 | Reading |
40 | Sussex |
41 | Essex |
42 | Harper Adams University |
43 | Aston |
44 | University for the Creative Arts |
45 | University of Stirling |
46 | Nottingham Trent |
47 | Kent |
48 | Arts University Bournemouth |
49 | Oxford Brookes |
50 | Lincoln |