Recognition of qualifications

General information

As part of a degree programme, certain courses and examinations must be completed in addition to other achievements. These are based on a defined curriculum (syllabus). It may be that an academic achievement is required for a particular examination that has already been completed as part of another training or further education programme. It is then possible to submit an application for "recognition of qualfications". Upon recognition, the work is deemed to have been completed and the recognised examination or other coursework does not have to be taken again. In the European Union, the ECTS system facilitates the mutual recognition of academic and examination achievements.

Requirements

The following academic achievements can be taken into account if their recognition is applied for:

• Recognition of examinations and other academic achievements from previous studies at recognised domestic and foreign colleges
• Recognition of academic achievements from vocational and general secondary schools (e.g. HAK, HTL) up to a maximum of 60 ECTS credits*
• Validation of professional or non-professional qualifications (e.g. certificates of further education) up to a maximum of 60 ECTS credits*, if provided for in the college statutes

* The following applies to academic achievements from vocational and general secondary schools as well as vocational or non-vocational qualifications: They may only be recognised up to a maximum total of 90 ECTS credits.

Deadlines

A decision on recognition must be made within a reasonable period of time.

Competent authority

• Universities (→ BMBWF) and colleges of teacher education (→ BMBWF): the body that deals with study matters
• Universities of applied sciences (→ BMBWF): the programme director 
• Private colleges/private universites (→ BMBWF): the relevant competent authority 

Procedure

Nähere Informationen zum Anerkennungsverfahren erhalten Betroffene unmittelbar von der jeweiligen Hochschule.

Further information

Admission to degree programme

No separate application is required for recognition of an academic degree or academic achievement in the admission procedure. The admission requirements (e.g. a completed, subject-relevant Bachelor's or Master's degree or an equivalent degree from a recognised Austrian or foreign post-secondary educational institution) are automatically checked as part of the intake or admission procedure to an (advanced) degree programme (Bachelor's, Master's or PhD programme). Applicants whose required documents (e.g. degrees) for the application do not originate from Austria may require a translation and/or notarisation, depending on the country. 

ERASMUS

Before a student stays abroad (e.g. as part of ERASMUS), it is possible to apply for recognition to be determined in advance. To do this, you must submit documents relating to the part of the programme you wish to complete abroad: curricula, description of the course content.

Joint programmes

An application is not necessary. In the case of cross-border "joint programmes", prior recognition is already part of the joint study programme, so courses completed at the foreign partner college are automatically taken into account. 

Further links

• Recognition of qualifications (→ BMBWF)
• Recognition of degrees (→ BMBWF)^{German text}

Legal basis

• section 78 of the  Universitätsgesetz (UG)
• section 12 of the Fachhochschulgesetz (FHG)
• section 56 of the Hochschulgesetz (HG)
• section 8 para. 4 and 5 of the Privathochschulgesetz (PrivHG)