FAQ: Internationals

You can enrol in your study by following the detailed guide on this JKU website. Thoroughly read the page, answers to many questions you might have can be found there. Note that the process can take quite a while (6 months is not unheard of) so start it as soon as the admission period opens, if possible - make sure to check your email and the enrollment portal frequently for information regarding your status.

If you decide to enrol for a different study than Computer Science or AI, take care: Some programs also have special admission procedures and distinct application periods which are listed on the website as well.

Yes. The JKU requires international students to show up in person at least once to prove your identity. See the enrollment procedure for more details.

If you have been admitted to JKU but cannot make it to the university in person in time for the semester, you most likely will have to re-apply for the next semester. In this case, the admission process will most likely be a lot faster (since all checks have already been performed), unless the regulatory framework has changed drastically in the meantime.

The Bachelor study for Informatik is taught in a mixture of German and English. You are required to have a B2 level of German, an equal level of English is also recommended. Bachelor AI, Master AI and Master Computer Science all require a B2 level of English.

Depending on your study and your previous background, you might be asked to prove your language proficiency - see each study’s enrollment procedure for the details. You can find information on what constitutes proof of language proficiency here.

While the university community has no problems speaking English and will readily help you out, getting a basic understanding of German can be quite helpful to get around Austria. Most crucial governmental services of Linz are bilingual, but you might still face language barriers when meeting them in person or when seeking a job. The rest of Linz is on an “okay” level of English - you’ll get your point across with most people, though you might struggle with older folks. It’s easier to connect with Austrians or get a job if you know German.

Depending on your nationality and situation, it can take quite some time (i.e. months) to receive your admission letter. Apply as soon as the application period opens and make sure to follow the JKU’s admission guide as closely as possible to avoid delays when documents are missing etc.; also, make sure to regularly check your mailbox for updates.

When you apply for a study, there are two kinds of conditional admissions you can have. One requires you to do supplementary exams (usually for the Bachelor studies), and the other requires you to do certain courses within the first year of your study (usually for the Master studies).

While our studies generally don’t have any entrance requirements (e.g. grade average etc.), you have to be on the same level as Austrian students who got a high school diploma (“Matura”). During the enrollment process, the JKU will determine if your previous school has the same level as the Matura in all relevant subjects for your studies. As a rule of thumb, countries listed here are usually considered to be equivalent. If your previous school education was less than 12 years, it will most likely not be deemed equivalent.

If you are not from a country on that list, the JKU’s admission office might decide that you need to prove your level by doing one or more supplementary exams (“Ergänzungsprüfung”) - this frequently needs to be done in Maths and Physics, but could also sometimes be in History.

You can find out more about them on this JKU website.

While doing the supplementary exams, you will be considered a non-degree-seeking student and not officially a student of your chosen subject yet.

Starting with the Summer Semester 2024, your admission letter will sometimes ask you to do additional exams as part of a Vorstudienlehrgang. You can then take the preparatory courses for your required subjects in person in Linz and do the supplementary exam as part of the course.

If you do not want to pay for courses and instead decide to prepare for them on your own, this is also an option (except for German, which always has to be taken as a course). Some exams can be taken online, others can only be taken in person. If you want to take the exam online, please contact the examiner for your subject (see the JKU website) in writing and explain your situation. You will most likely still need to visit JKU in person to complete your registration to the pre-study program.

If that is the case or if an exam can only be done in person, you will have to apply for a visitor visa to do the exam here. Once the supplementary exam is completed (and you have updated your status in the MyAdmission portal), you will receive a new letter of admission that allows you to get a residence permit.

In both cases, your supplementary exams will award you ECTS. These ECTS count towards the ECTS required to renew your Residence Permit for Students, but cannot be used for your normal degree study.

If you apply for a Master’s at the JKU and have done your Bachelor’s study at a different university, or if you did your Bachelor’s in a related field, the JKU frequently asks you to do some additional courses during your Master’s to get the same background as JKU Bachelor alumni. These courses are usually from the Bachelor curriculum and depend on your background.

If you are doing a Master in Computer Science, this can mean that you are asked to participate in courses from the German Informatik Bachelor. We have talked to the Study Committee about this issue and are still working on a way to resolve this, but for now, please contact your professors and kindly ask for English supplementary material / an English exam - usually, this should not be an issue. Please contact us (your student union) otherwise.

Sometimes, you will be asked to complete courses within the first year of your studies. Especially if you are starting in the summer term, you might struggle to complete all of the required courses in that period, since some are only offered once per year and require knowledge you can only acquire in the winter semester. We are working with the study committee to reduce the courses you need to take, but until then, the examination office has told us that the legal one-year-requirement to complete the courses is generally not checked (i.e. you can take until the end of your study to complete them). We cannot guarantee that this system is going to stay like that forever, so we advise you to try and complete the courses as quickly as possible.

Please check out this JKU website for deadlines on enrollment, course registration and deadlines for paying the student fee each semester.

Yes, so-called “third-country nationals” (i.e. mostly internationals from outside the EU/EWR) generally have to pay student fees every semester.

EU/EWR students are exempt from paying tuition if they complete their studies within a certain time (BSc study: 8 semesters, MSc study: 6 semesters).

All students must also pay a student union fee (ca. 25€ / semester).

See this page for more information.

All of our studies are structured in a way that makes it possible to start in any semester. Since most courses are only offered once per year, however, your recommended course of study will change. If avoidable, we do not recommend Bachelor students to start in the summer for that reason. If you are still considering it, please refer to our FAQ on study-specific questions for more information.

Please note: If you have a Residence Permit for Students, among other documents, you will need to prove continuous academic success to be able to renew it. This means that you will need to achieve 8 Semester Hours or 16 ECTS of workload per academic year (i.e. winter and summer semester). If you start in the summer, you usually only have this single semester to complete these requirements for the first year (since you already missed the winter term), so make sure that you can pass enough courses. Under special circumstances, you might be granted more time to fulfil the 16 ECTS workload when starting in summer (e.g. if you only arrived in Austria in time for the summer semester), but this is a rather complex process - try to avoid this situation altogether.

Tl;dr: It’s possible, but hard.

Your study consists of different kinds of courses, some of which have mandatory attendance. For many exercise courses (“UE”, “PR”…), you will be removed from the course after not showing up for two to three weeks. Fortunately, many Profs are lenient and may still allow you to join their course if you write them a friendly email (see the study FAQ for how to do that) and explain your situation.

Generally, joining 1-2 weeks late will not be a big issue (but will entail writing several emails), everything longer than that will most likely result in missing out on some courses which will prolong your study duration.

If you are studying a subject with distance learning offers (such as the AI Bachelor), we recommend contacting your Profs asap if you will realistically not be officially registered with the JKU by the start of the semester (but will be soon after): Some might offer you access to the course material and online lectures, allowing you to follow along.

The JKU offers two kinds of German Language Courses: Courses as part of your Vorstudienlehrgang (pre-study-program), and so-called “Fast Track” courses. You can find their offer here, prices can be found here.

Vorstudienlehrgang

Courses as part of your pre-study program are quite intense ways of learning German. Courses you take here cost money and credits awarded cannot be used for your main study (but they do count towards the ECTS required for your residence permit).

Degree Courses

All other courses (usually referred to as “Fast Track” on KUSSS) are less intense, and they also usually award fewer ECTS than the pre-study courses. Credits you earn here can be used as “Free Electives” in your main study. While courses do cost money, this money is refunded if you fulfil some requirements - for more information, check out the page of the JKU.

Offers by ÖH JKU

ÖH JKU has partnered with Upper Austria’s Chamber of Commerce to bring you external language courses at university - the idea here is that they have lower barriers to enter. If you just want to learn or improve your German and don’t care about all the formalities or ECTS, this might be for you.

How it works:

• Go to https://www.wifi-ooe.at/k/deutsch-als-fremdsprache and search for courses tagged with “ÖH JKU”.
• If 12 people are found that want to do a course of the same level, a course will be offered. Your registration is binding.
• A course costs you 50€. All other costs will be paid for by ÖH / Upper Austria’s Chamber of Commerce.
• Courses will take place at JKU, you’ll receive more details in an email.
• You will receive a certificate of participation. If you take the final test, you’ll also receive certification of your language level.

Note that this offer is only applicable to JKU students. This does mean that you must have completed your admission process, but you can be an extraordinary student (e.g. currently working on your supplementaries). For any questions, please email oeh@oeh.jku.at.

Yes, the Student Union is providing several resources, including mental health support and guides on how to open up bank accounts etc. - check them out here!

Our colleagues at HTU Vienna have created a handy overview of hidden costs you might not expect when coming to Austria for your study: https://htu.at/financing/

While not all of these factors are the same for students at JKU, this should give you a good idea.

The JKU has a detailed guide for all organisational matters for international students about travelling to and living in Linz. The International Welcome Center also gives a lot more information in their Facebook FAQ!