Since 2013/14, universities have been able to carry out admission procedures in nationwide mass subjects in addition to medicine, psychology and the subjects with aptitude tests (art, sport, teaching). In 2022/23 this was possible in 157 studies, and in 53 cases they were actually activated by the individual universities. According to the 2023 university report, the tests actually took place in just twelve studies; in the other cases there were fewer registrations than study places.
The mere announcement of admission procedures led to fewer registrations in subjects that were overcrowded nationwide: with the introduction of the admission regulations in 2019/20, there was an initial decline of 33 percent in the field of law, and by 13 and 8 percent respectively in foreign languages and educational sciences. The result: There was never a test in these fields of study until 2022/2023.
Chances of getting a place at universities vary
Testing took place primarily at the University of Vienna (Bachelor of Biology, International Law, Computer Science, Business Informatics, Pharmacy), also at the WU University of Economics (Business and Economics, Business Law, Economics and Social Sciences), and the Vienna University of Technology (TU) (Computer Science). , at TU Graz (architecture, molecular biology) and at the University of Klagenfurt (international business and economics). The chance of getting one of the available study places varied greatly: while at the University of Vienna nine out of ten test participants in biology and computer science and at the WU in business law and economics and social sciences eight out of ten test participants received a place in Business and Economics at the business university just 15 percent. In International Law at the University of Vienna and International Business and Economics at the University of Klagenfurt, only a third were able to start their desired course of study afterwards.
Of the almost 52,300 bachelor’s and diploma programs that began in 2022/23, 52 percent were limited to one type or another. 55 percent of these were in subjects that were in particularly high demand nationwide. 23 percent related to studies with admission procedures such as art, sports or teacher training courses, 17 percent of the access-regulated studies started were German numerus clausus subjects (human medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, psychology). Five percent had access restricted because they were in particularly high demand at a specific university.
Of all 420 bachelor’s and diploma courses on offer, 87 percent were open access. Either there were no access regulations for these or they were not activated.
