Studying in Austria: Significant Increase Among Foreign Students in the Corona Winter Semester 2020/21
After declining student numbers in previous years, both the number of foreign students and the number of students with Austrian citizenship increased by 4.6% and 2.6%, respectively, in the Corona winter semester 2020/21. The CEU - Central European University accounts for a good portion of the increase in foreign students. Detailed information on university statistics can be found below.

After stagnating or slightly declining student numbers in previous years, in the Corona winter semester 2020/21 the number of students at Austria's public universities, universities of applied sciences, universities of teacher education and private universities increased by 3.1%.
Compared to the winter semester 2019/20, the increase was 4.0% for women and 2.0% for men studying.
The number of students with Austrian citizenship increased by 2.6%, and the number of foreign students by 4.6%.
Increases in all university sectors
At public universities, there were 268,240 regular students in the winter semester 2020/21, an increase of 3,295 persons or 1.2% over the previous year.
The increase in regular students at universities of applied sciences was even greater, with an increase of 3,532 persons or 6.4% in the winter semester 2020/21, which was dominated by Corona.
At the teacher training colleges, there were 2,134 more teacher training students than in the previous winter semester (+12.9%).
At the private universities, there was an increase of 1,786 regular students (+14.7%), with a large part of the increase being attributable to the Vienna branch of the Central European University, which started its studies in the winter semester 2020/21.
Only at the theological colleges was there a decrease of 70 persons or 22.7% in the number of regular students. This is largely due to the closure of the Philosophical-Theological College of the Diocese of St. Pölten, which was already planned before the pandemic, starting with the winter semester 2020/21.
55.3% of students were women
Women in particular were increasingly drawn to the universities in the first winter semester after the outbreak of the Corona pandemic. Compared to the winter semester 2019/20, the number of female students increased by 4.0%. For men, the percentage increase was half that at 2.0%.
Of the total 387,775 students in the winter semester 2020/21, 214,273 were women, representing 55.3%.
With the exception of theological teaching institutions, more women than men studied in all higher education sectors: around three quarters (77.1%) of students at teacher training colleges were female, 60.4% at private universities, 53.8% at public universities and 51.1% at universities of applied sciences.
27.3% of students were foreign nationals
The strongest percentage increase compared to the previous year was observed among students with foreign nationalities (+4.6%).
The number of students with German citizenship increased particularly strongly in 2020/21 (by 3,658 persons or 9.4% compared to the previous year).
In this context, the share of Germans among foreign students at Austria's universities was 40.1% in the winter semester 2020/21. Comparatively moderate gains were seen in the numbers of students from Italy (+2.0%), the rest of Europe (+1.6%) and Asia (+3.1%), while the number of students from the Americas (-7.3%) declined in the winter semester 2020/21.
72.7% of students were Austrian citizens
In contrast, 281,791 or 72.7% of students in the winter semester 2020/21 were Austrian citizens. This means that 2.6% more Austrians studied at Austria's universities than in the winter semester 2019/20.