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Who will pay for my life as a student?

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Who will pay for my life as a student?

To study at university, you need about €1.000 per month, estimates say. How are you going to raise this amount if your parents are unable or unwilling to provide enough money to cover all your expenses?

In principle, your parents have to support you if you want to study. Up until your 25th birthday, they receive a family allowance of €165,10 from the government to cover part of this cost. And there’s an additional tax benefit of €58,40 for parents with dependent children. However, your parents do not have to cover everything. For example, they do not have to pay for an apartment, for you, if you can just as well live at home while you are studying. And they do not have to spend more than 22% of their annual net income, or a maximum of €1,500, on you. Moreover, this obligation does not last forever. (Information from “Der Standard”) You only have a right to your parents’ financial support if you pursue your studies “seriously and purposefully”, i.e. fast enough: minimum programme time plus one semester at most. (Information about family allowance)

Paid employment

63 per cent of students in Austria have jobs, and 80 per cent of those who work do so to earn their livelihood while pursuing a study programme. On average, students get 40 per cent of their monthly income from their own jobs. These numbers come from a recent study on students’ social circumstances: Studierenden-Sozialerhebung

Finding a job

Tip:
You can also use Google to search for job forums at your university. Or browse the jobs ads in newspapers to find something that suits you.

One important point:

  • · Income If you earn more than € 15,000 per year, you are no longer entitled to draw student benefits. (This amount is adjusted annually.)
  • · If your job takes up so much time that you can’t manage the required ECTS score, you lose your student benefits (allowance as well as free health insurance cover as a dependent of your parents).
  • · If your annual income is € 11,000 or more, you have to pay income tax. (This amount is adjusted annually.)
  • · Always submit a tax refund claim (Arbeitnehmerveranlagung) at the end of
    the year, especially if you have only been employed for part of the year and have a low annual income. You will get some money back from the tax authority. For more information, visit finanzonline.at.
Student grants offices exist in all Austrian university towns. There you can get extensive information about grants or scholarships you can apply for.
If your parents cannot afford to fund you at university, you may be able to apply for a student grant. To qualify for a student grant you have to show that you are progressing through your study programme in the minimum time (plus one “tolerance semester)
If you're grades are good, you can apply for an excellence scholarship. Here too you have progress through your study programme in the minimum time plus one “tolerance sesmester”. Calls for applications are issued every year at the start of the winter semester. It’s best to enquire ar your university.
If you need money for a project or for a particular research study and can show that your academic progress is above average, you may be awarded a project-based grant. Project grants are awarded by the university administrations. You can get more detailed information from them.
If you begin a course of studs after having lived on your own means for at least four years (and earned at least € 8,580 p.a during that time), you may also qualify for a scholarship. Find more information here. (This amount is adjusted annually.)
In emergency cases, support may be granted by the Austrian students’ union (Österreichische Hochschülerschaft, ÖH). This comes in the form of a one-off payment of max €1,200. Students can apply for emergency aid once in twelve months. Find more information at Infos ÖH-Sozialfonds (Dieser Betrag wird regelmäßig angepasst.)
REgulations concerning housing allowances differ from region to region in Austria. Here you will find the relevant information: Österreichische Hochschülerschaft.
Who will pay for my life as a student?

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