FAQ for Prospective Students

Registration and admission for bachelor’s degree programmes requires you to take the following steps: 

1. Admission procedure: For the Bachelor’s Degree Programmes Architecture, Electrical Engineering and Audio Engineering, and Molecular Biology as well as the Degree Programme Teacher Education for Secondary Schools, you must successfully complete a specific admission procedure.
2. Online pre-registration: Enter all your necessary personal details into the online form.
3. Admission: Come to the Registrar’s Office at Rechbauerstrasse 12 in Graz in person.

 You can find detailed step-by-step instructions along with all relevant deadlines here

There is only an admissions procedure for the Bachelor’s Degree Programmes Architecture, Electrical Engineering and Audio Engineering, and Molecular Biology as well as the Degree Programme Teacher Education for Secondary Schools. All dates and deadlines for the admission procedures are listed on the page of the respective bachelor’s degree programme.

All documents that you must bring with you to your in-person admission appointment at the Registrar’s Office are listed here: Required Documents for Admission to a Bachelor's Degree Programme.

Please note that you must bring all documents in the original or as a certified copy; a photo of the document is not sufficient.

You can find the deadlines for your desired degree programme on the page of the respective degree programme.

Before admission to the degree programme, you must prove that you have a sufficient level of German language competence by taking a certificate exam or by taking supplementary exams if German is not your first language (mother tongue).

If you want to study a NAWI Graz degree programme, you have to enrol either at TU Graz or at the University of Graz as these degree programmes are based on a collaboration between both universities. The courses in the degree programme then take place at both universities.

If you cannot prove that you have sufficient knowledge of a relevant subject area, you will be required to take an additional exam in order to get admitted to certain TU Graz bachelor’s degree programmes. You must then complete this exam before you start your studies.

If you are told that you must take a supplementary exam when getting admitted to the degree programme, you will be required to complete this exam during your bachelor’s degree programme.

Additional and Supplementary Examinations at TU Graz

The academic year begins with the winter semester, followed by the summer semester. The winter semester usually starts on the first weekday in October, and the summer semester starts on the first weekday in March. You can find the exact semester division on the “Academic Year” page.

In principle, yes, but we recommend starting in the winter semester because the courses build on the contents of the previous semester.

If you still wish to begin studying in the summer semester, we recommend you contact the Student Representation for your degree programme. They can advise you on the best course of action for starting in the summer semester.

To enrol at TU Graz, you must show proof that you have the required German language level and that you have the qualifications for higher education; this can be, for example, your Matura (higher education entrance qualification exam) diploma.

Admission Requirements to Bachelor's Degree Programmes

No, your school grades have no influence on admission to the degree programme or your study progress.

Absolutely! You will be taught all the necessary knowledge during the degree programme. If you are still unsure whether your knowledge in mathematics or other subject areas is sufficient, you can also take additional preparation courses.

No, you will be taught all the necessary skills as part of the degree programme.

Yes. However, if you do not have a Matura diploma, you must meet certain other requirements. You can find more information on how to achieve higher education entrance qualification without a Matura here:

Studying Without a Secondary School Leaving Certificate - University Entrance Qualification Exam

Yes, please check the “Accessible Learning” page for all the available information and support options related to accessible studying at TU Graz.

TU Graz offers a variety of free services to prepare for your studies. Many of these are time- and location-independent online courses ‒ so-called MOOCs  ‒ for example in mathematics, computer science, programming or mechanics. It is recommended (depending on your field of study) that you take these free courses regardless of what school you have graduated from.

In principle, yes, but be careful: Changing your degree programme can have an adverse effect on financial aid such as family allowance, study assistance or scholarships.

Which exams will be recognised is decided on a case-by-case basis. This decision can only be made by the Dean of Studies responsible for your degree programme and only after you have been admitted to the university.

You can find a variety of different advisory services to help you make your decision here:

Advisory Services for Prospective Students

Yes, if you have questions about a specific degree programme, we recommend you contact the advisory service “Check what you expect!”.

TU Graz offers a number of support services for first-semester students, such as the Welcome Days or the first-semester tutorial (Erstsemestrigentutorium). Visit the “Information for New Students” page.

You can find explanations of the content of your desired degree programme on the page of the respective degree programme.

Engineering and science degree programmes naturally have a relatively high proportion of mathematics-focused courses. You can find out how your degree programme is structured in detail on the pages of the respective degree programme as well as in the semester plan.

All degree programmes are very practice-oriented, however, how and how often practical skills are taught very much depends on the specific degree programme. For more information, check the pages of the respective degree programme.

Yes! TU Graz encourages study periods abroad. You can find more information about studying abroad here: “Study Abroad”

TUGRAZonline is a web-based campus management system that you can use to manage your entire time studying at TU Graz. You can use this platform to view your curriculum, access information about courses, register or deregister for courses and exams or print out study-related forms, documentation and certificates.

Every degree programme is based on a document called a “curriculum” (sometimes also a “study plan”) that outlines the content and allocation of courses to semesters. It is therefore comparable to a school syllabus.

The Study Starting and Orientation Period (STEOP), or orientation period for short, is an introductory phase built into all bachelor’s degree programmes. This introductory phase lasts for the first two semesters of your degree programme. Within this period, you must complete between 8 and 20 ECTS credit points worth of courses from a STEOP course catalogue.

ECTS credit points are intended to reflect the workload required to pass the course by an average person. One ECTS credit point corresponds to approximately 25‒30 hours of work. This estimate includes attending the course, completing assignments and studying for the exam.

ECTS credit points do not reflect the level of difficulty of the course.

The HTU is the TU Graz Student Union, a legal interest group that represents the interests of all students at TU Graz in matters related to the university and other institutions.

It also offers numerous helpful services and organises events and leisure activities for students.

All degree programmes at TU Graz are designed to be full-time programmes. In order to complete your degree programme within the minimum required time, you need to complete an average of 30 ECTS credit points per semester.

One ECTS credit point corresponds to a workload of 25‒30 hours. This includes attending classes, doing exercises and working on projects as well as preparing for exams. Of course, how much time is actually needed to complete the workload successfully depends on the individual student.

On average, it takes between 8 and 10 semesters to complete a bachelor’s degree programme at TU Graz. The median duration of study of graduates from the last three academic years is listed below. The median is the middle value of a data sample, separating the higher half from the lower half. This means that half (of the graduates) needed longer and the other half finished earlier than the listed number of semesters. 

Bachelor’s degree programmes incl. co-registrations:

• Architecture: 8 semesters
• Civil Engineering Sciences and Construction Management: 8 semesters
• Biomedical Engineering: 10 semesters
• Chemistry*: 8 semesters
• Digital Engineering: not specified
• Electrical and Electronics Engineering: 8 semesters
• Electrical Engineering and Audio Engineering*: 9 semesters
• Geodesy: 10 semesters
• Geosciences*: 8 semesters
• Computer Science: 8 semesters
• Information and Computer Engineering: 9 semesters
• Mechanical Engineering: 9 semesters
• Mathematics*: 8 semesters
• Molecular Biology*: 8 semesters
• Physics*: 8 semesters
• Software Engineering and Management: 8 semesters
• Environmental Systems Sciences / Natural Sciences-Technology*: 8 semesters
• Chemical and Process Engineering: 9 semesters
• Mechanical Engineering and Business Economics: 9 semesters

* Joint degree programmes

_{Source for median value(s): TU Graz Quality Management, Evaluation & Reporting (Ordinance on University and Higher Education Statistics and Education Documentation (UHSBV) base data of the academic years 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23)
Statistics are only calculated if data from at least 5 graduates is available. The number of graduates included in the calculation may differ from the total number of graduates, as degrees obtained within a period of study <= 20% of the standard period of study are excluded when determining the duration of study for the entire degree programme.}

At public universities in Austria, it is common for the duration of study to exceed the ‘standard duration of study’ outlined in the curriculum of the respective degree programme. In the 2022/23 academic year, the median duration of study was 8 semesters (i.e. 50% of students completed their degree after a maximum of 8 semesters). Possible reasons for students to take longer to complete their degrees are:

• Additional “tolerance” semesters: In addition to the standard duration of the degree programme, students have two additional semesters for which they do not yet have to pay tuition fees and are still eligible for financial aid. 
• Extracurricular activities: Many students join extracurricular activities such as the TU Graz Student Union and Student Representation of their respective degree programmes. Some even join one of our student teams and learn valuable additional skills that go beyond the curriculum and course contents.
• Employment: Around half of TU Graz students work regularly throughout the semester while studying. For anyone working more than 10 hours per week, the amount of time they can devote to studying decreases, which can result in the student needing longer to complete their degree.
• Full-time on-campus degree programmes: The curricula are designed for full-time on-campus degree programmes, thus attending the courses requires a lot of time. A reduced attendance can lead to longer durations of study.
• Early completion of courses from higher-level degree programmes: At TU Graz, students can already complete master’s degree courses while they are still studying in their bachelor’s degree programme, which can extend the duration of the bachelor’s degree programme but shorten the duration of the master’s degree programme.

_{Data sources: Statistik Austria higher education statistics, TU Graz student survey 2021 and student social survey 2019}

Yes, most students have a part-time job. However, you should make sure that you still have enough time to study.

It is best to contact the HTU student representation (TU Graz Student Union) for your degree programme. They know from experience what is possible as well as which subjects are important and doable for you in the beginning in order to keep up with your studies.

You must register for all the courses and exams you want to take every semester. To register for a course or exam, you simply log into TUGRAZonline, the TU Graz campus management system, look up the relevant course/exam and register.

Whether or not attendance is mandatory depends on the type of course.

In general, we do recommend you attend at least the first unit of a course in order to get all the important information on how the course works.

At TU Graz, you have four attempts to pass any given examination. If you fail the last examination attempt, your admission to this degree programme expires.

Your courses can be held at any of the three campus locations. Depending on your degree programme, however, you might spend more time at one or another campus.

For more information, watch our campus locations video.

The number of new first-year students depends entirely on the degree programme and can vary greatly, anywhere from 20 and 230 new students. You can find the exact numbers here.

You can find the career opportunities for your desired degree programme on the page of the respective degree programme.

Yes, that is possible, however your career opportunities heavily depend on what bachelor’s degree programme you complete.

That depends on the degree programme.

In general, people with a university degree in engineering or science can expect a good starting salary.

Further information: Graduate Tracking

All students at TU Graz must pay the Austrian Student Union Fee of around EUR 25. This contribution is used to finance the extensive range of services offered by the Austrian Student Union (ÖH) as well as accident and liability insurance.

In addition, full-time degree students at TU Graz from Austria or an EU member state who have exceeded the duration of study according to the curriculum plus two extra semesters, must pay a tuition fee. There are separate rules for third-country nationals. You can find more information here: Tuition Fees and the Austrian Student Union Fee.

TU Graz supports talented students from Austria and abroad in the form of scholarships. You can find all scholarship programmes here.

Your cost of living in Graz depends on how you want to spend your time but expect to spend from EUR 800 to EUR 1,200 per month on accommodation and living expenses.

Graz is an attractive student city with lots of leisure activities, clubs and cafés. You can find detailed information about living and studying in Graz here.

There are countless accommodation options available in Graz, whether you want to rent your own flat, share a flat with other students or live in a student dorm. You can find accommodations, flat listings and more on platforms such as campusboard.at, willhaben.at or wg-gesucht.de.

Depending on how you want to live, you should expect to spend between EUR 250 and EUR 500 per month on rent.