Tuition fees information

Regulations on tuition fees are defined in §§ 91 and 92 of the University Law 2002 and regulations on the implementation of the statutory conditions, procedure and processes are defined in §§ 2 and 3 of the Tuition Fees Ordinance 2004 – StubeiV 2004 in their currently valid versions. 

Tuition fees details

Tuition fees are in principle mandatory, but most students are exempted as the result of exception regulations.

As of academic year 2024/2025, tuition fees are:

363,36 Euro per semester for Austrian and EU citizens
726,72 Euro per semester for non-EU citizens.

You will also need to pay the students' union membership fee (ÖH-Beitrag) of 24,70 Euro per semester, including insurance.

A temporary exemption from the tuition fees exists

  • Undergraduate, graduate or doctoral studies: standard duration of studies + 2 extra semesters (= exempt from tuition fees)

for the following regular students:

  1. Austrian citizens
  2. EU citizens
  3. EEA citizens (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein)
  4. Nationals of the Swiss Confederation
  5. Convention refugees
  6. Privileged non-EU citizens who have one of the following residence permits:
    • EU permanent residence, issued by the relevant Austrian authorities
    • Permanent residence card, issued by the relevant Austrian authorities
      If a student who is a non-EU citizen also receives a student grant, he/she is considered to be a non-EU citizen with permanent residence rights and proof of the positive student grant decision can then be used as proof of his/her legal position as a permanent resident. In such cases, the decision by the student grant authorities replaces the need for one of the aforementioned permits. Proof must be shown to the Registrar's Office.
  7. Students to whom the ordinance governing admission of certain groups of potential students [Personengruppen-Verordnung] applies
  8. Students with a residence permit other than "Residence Permit – Student"

If the contribution-free period is exceeded, the tuition fee and the ÖH contribution must be paid. If you can provide grounds for exemption (see Statutory exemption regulations – Grounds for exemption), you will only have to pay the students' union membership fee.

Regular students who are citizens of the least developed countries. They only have to pay the students' union membership fee (EUR 22.70).

This applies to students from Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Yemen, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Kiribati, the Comoros, Congo (Democratic Republic), Laos (Democratic People's Republic), Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, the Maldives, Mali, Mauretania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, the Solomon Islands, Zambia, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania (United Republic), Timor-Leste, Togo, Chad, Tuvalu, Uganda, Central African Republic.

Extraordinary students, regardless of their nationality, have to pay the tuition fee and the ÖH fee per semester from the first semester onwards. The students' union membership fee does NOT rise during the extension period.

External students who are only participating in one university year or the preparatory year are exempt from tuition fees and the students' union membership fee.

If you are studying multiple programmes at Montanuniversität Leoben, the tuition fee exemption period will be calculated for each study programme. Any tuition fees charged will be based on the programme in which the tuition fee exemption period ends earliest.

It does not matter which study programme is considered to be the "main programme".

If you are studying multiple programmes at multiple universities, each university will calculate the tuition fees exemption period separately from one another.

This means that students may be exempt from tuition fees at one university, but have already used up their exemption period at another and therefore be asked to pay tuition fees there.

The following students are exempt from paying tuition fees if they do not exceed the standard duration of the degree programme including two additional semesters (non-contributory period):

  •     Austrian citizens;
  •     EU and EEA citizens; (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein)
  •     Swiss citizens;
  •     refugees under the Refugee Convention;
  •     non-EU foreign nationals with a permanent residence permit for Austria;
  •     non-EU foreign nationals who receive a study grant;
  •     students to whom the Austrian Regulation on Eligible Groups of Persons (in German: Personengruppenverordnung) applies, and
  •     students with a different residence permit from the Student Residence Permit in Austria.

These grounds for exemption are: Pregnancy and illness (applies to regular students in accordance with Sections 1 to 6)
If, as the result of pregnancy or illness, you are unable to study for at least two months within a semester for which tuition fees are due, you will be exempt from paying tuition fees for that semester. This must be a continuous period of at least two months.
Proof: Application form and confirmation from a consultant

Childcare (applies to regular students in accordance with Sections 1 to 6)
If you are the primary carer for children up to the age of 7 or later school entry, you will be exempt from tuition fees for the duration of your primary care.
Proof: Application form and a sworn statement from the student, confirming that he/she is the primary carer for the child, the child's birth certificate, the student's proof of residency, the child's proof of residency (the address given for the child must match that of the student).

Military or civilian service (applies to regular students in accordance with Sections 1 to 6)
If you have to carry out military or civilian service during your studies, you will be exempt from tuition fees if this takes up more than two months of the semester.
Proof: Application form and confirmation from military command or the civil service agency.

Disability
Students are exempt from tuition fees for the duration of their studies without any exemption period restrictions if their level of disability is at least 50% according to statutory regulations.
Proof: Application form and disability pass from the Federal Social Welfare Office

Student grants
Students who received a student grant in the last semester in accordance with the Student Support Act [Studienförderungsgesetz] 1992, Federal Law Gazette No. 305/1992, or will receive one for the current semester.
Proof: Application form and student grant decision

Please print out the required proofs and corresponding form, sign them, scan them and send them by email, fax or post, or deliver them in person

Email: studlg(at)unileoben.ac.at or

Fax +43 3842 402-7042 or

Postal address: Montanuniversität Leoben, Registrar's Office, Franz Josef-Straße 18, 8700 Leoben.

Please keep the sent email or fax confirmation so that you can prove they were sent in the event of loss.

If you have not received a reply from us within two weeks of sending in your application, please contact us by email, fax or telephone on +43 3842 402-7041.

If submitting proofs from abroad, please submit documents from authorities that are equivalent to the Austrian authorities named above.

Attention: Proofs that are not in German or English must be translated by sworn translators. You will then need to submit copies of the original document along with the translation.

Please bear in mind that, according to § 92 Section 6 of the University Law 2002, students who have deliberately requested or obtained tuition fee exemption by providing incomplete or false information about material facts will be charged double tuition fees, without prejudice to any criminal proceedings.

If you are unable to submit the application for exemption from tuition fees by 31 March for the summer semester or 31 October for the winter semester, you will have to pay the tuition fees initially, but you can submit an application for reimbursement of tuition fees with proof of one of the aforementioned grounds for exemption by the following 30 September for the summer semester or the following 31 March for the winter semester.