Austrian Study Grant Authority - Federal Aid for Students - Study Grant

What you get

You will receive a monthly scholarship, which begins in the academic year base rate of 431 EUR at 2025 and increases by approximately 2% each year. Various supplements may increase the amount significantly beyond this:

• An additional 321 euros if you do not live with your parents, are 24 years of age or older, are an orphan, are married or in a registered civil partnership, or have children.
• An additional 309 EUR from the age of 24 and 38 EUR from the age of 27.
• 154 EUR if you are looking after your own children.
• Up to 630 EUR if you have a disability.

Your own income, your parents’ income and the income of any spouse are deducted from the amount, meaning that the level of the grant is calculated on an individual basis. It is paid out by the Student Grants Authority, a federal agency of the Austrian Ministry of Science, and is the country’s most important state-funded student grant.

Who can apply

• Where you study: You are studying at an Austrian university, university of applied sciences (FH), university of teacher education, recognised private university, theological college or a conservatoire with public status.
• Enrolment type: You are a full-time student on a degree programme. Non-students and participants in university courses (short supplementary courses) are not eligible for funding.
• Field of study: All participants are eligible to take part.
• Nationality: You are an Austrian citizen, an EEA citizen with equivalent status (for example, after five years of permanent residence or as a migrant worker), a third-country national with permanent residence, or a family member of an EU citizen or an Austrian citizen, a recognised refugee, or a British citizen who was living in the EU before 1 January 2021.
• Financial need: Your income, your family circumstances and the size of your household indicate that you need financial support.
• Study progress: You must make satisfactory progress in your studies and provide evidence of this from the 3th semester onwards. The official duration of your studies may be exceeded by no more than one semester. Exceptions apply in the event of illness, pregnancy, care responsibilities, disability, or military or civilian service.
• Age at start: You started your degree before you turned 33 years old. Exceptions apply to self-funded students, parents and people with disabilities.
• No equivalent degree: You have not yet obtained an equivalent qualification in Austria or abroad. You may change your degree subject no more than twice.

How to apply

You can apply for the grant online using your ‘ID Austria’ digital identity – this takes around 10 to 20 minutes – or by post using a paper form. The deadline is 15 December for the winter semester and 15 May for the summer semester. If you apply by the deadline, the grant will be awarded retroactively from the start of the respective semester. Once initially approved, the grant is automatically renewed each year.

How realistic are your chances?

This is not a competition prize, but a statutory entitlement. If you meet the criteria regarding income, place of residence and academic progress, you will receive the grant; around 60,000 students apply for it each year. Your chances of being awarded the grant depend on whether your family’s income is below the means-test threshold and whether you are making the required academic progress. Make sure you apply for the grant within the deadline so that it is awarded with retroactive effect from the start of the semester.