Tuition fee exemption for Ukrainian students until the end of February 2026
The BMBWF continues to help Ukrainian students. They are exempt from the obligation to pay tuition fees until 28 February 2026. The special scholarship "Ernst Mach UKRAINE" will also be extended until then.
"The war in Ukraine has been raging for almost three years and there is no end in sight. That is why I think it is enormously important to continue to support Ukrainian students quickly and unbureaucratically. Therefore, we are extending both the tuition fee exemption and the further payment of the Ernst Mach Ukraine Scholarship for another year," emphasizes Science Minister Martin Polaschek.
Ukrainian students who are admitted to public universities or university colleges of teacher education in the summer semester 2025 and/or in the winter semester 2025/26 will continue to be exempt from tuition fees. This is provided for in the amendment to the Tuition Fee Ordinance (StuBeiV), which the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research recently submitted for review. As a rule, third-country nationals usually have to pay 726.72 euros per semester, twice the regular tuition fee.
The BMBWF cannot impose any requirements on universities of applied sciences and private higher education institutions, the private universities and the private university colleges, the BMBWF cannot make any requirements in this regard due to their legal and financial framework. However, numerous of them offer their own support measures. The public universities, in turn, are compensated by the BMBWF for the loss of an estimated 2.3 million euros per semester.
Ongoing special scholarships for Ukrainian students and researchers will continue to be paid out.
The "Ernst Mach Ukraine Scholarships" will also be extended for another year until 28 February 2026. This means that 630 Ukrainian students (as of December 2024) will continue to receive 715 euros per month to continue their studies in Austria. New applications are no longer possible.
The scholarship programme is implemented and administrated by the OeAD, the Austrian Agency for Education and Internationalisation. Further information is available at www.oead.at.