Internationality is a top priority at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria
In the winter semester 2024/2025, which has just started, the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria is once again paying attention to internationality.
Sciences Upper Austria is once again paying attention to internationality. Every year, the four faculties of the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria prepare a colourful programme for international students, the so-called “Welcome Weeks”.
This year, a total of 587 international students will be welcomed at the faculties of the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria in Hagenberg, Linz, Steyr and Wels. The new arrivals come from other European countries but also from more distant countries such as Barbados, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand or Vietnam.
During the “Welcome Weeks”, the newly arrived internationals experience practical introductions and campus tours on living and studying in Austria, as well as city tours, buddy events and kick-off events of the degree programs in order to make contacts with each other that make it easier to get started at the faculty.
The University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria has recently started offering "internationally friendly" oriented (bilingual) degree programs, i.e. Bachelor's degree programs that are taught in English in the first two semesters and only in German from the third semester onwards, for example Green Science. In addition, the range of bachelor's and master's degree programs that are internationally oriented and taught exclusively in English is growing, such as “Artificial Intelligence Solutions”, “Global Sales & Marketing”, “Electrical Engineering” or “Innovation and Product Engineering Management”.
The International Foundation Program at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria
In addition to these study options, the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria also offers the opportunity to acquire the necessary study requirements directly at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria: With the "International Foundation Program" (IFP), a one-year preparatory course, which again met with great interest this year with almost 400 applications, prospective students can obtain the university entrance qualifications for a Bachelor's degree at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria or improve their knowledge in preparation for a course of study.
At the beginning of the year, the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria started cooperations for a dislocated IFP with partner institutions in Namibia (Swakopmund Private School) and in the United Arab Emirates (Gulf Medical University), which enable international students to acquire the necessary knowledge in their home country. Teaching is based on the specified Austrian curriculum and partly also directly by lecturers from the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria.
Magdalena Maritz, one if the new arrivals at Campus Wels says:” Why Upper Austria? Well, the University provided me with so many opportunities to be able to study in Europe, which has always been my dream. The University partnered with a Highschool in Namibia and I was able to complete my IFP coarse and improve my German. That being said I was also able to study the field that I am passionate about, Green Sciences. My experience so far has been nothing but amazing, everyone is very friendly and helpful.“
Stefan Sunzenauer, Professor at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria and Head of the Center of Lifelong Learning (COL3): “Two aspects of our IFP are particularly remarkable. Firstly, in recent years we have succeeded in building a reputation in markets that are not among the classic educational migration markets through good and sustainable word of mouth from graduates. We are increasingly receiving applications from the USA as well as from countries of the former Soviet Union such as Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan or Belarus. Experience has shown that students from the former Eastern Bloc regions in particular are very efficient and quickly find social and cultural connections in Austria.
The second aspect that particularly pleases me is to see how people from supposedly opposing regions become friends. I'm thinking of an Iranian woman and an American woman who get along very well, or of two young men – one from Ukraine and one from Russia – who even share a room and have become close friends. It is these human connections that give our program a value that goes beyond technical education!”
Further information on the degree programs at the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria and the IFP can be found under the following links:
Information on studying at the University of Applied Sciences
