Digital ID, More Places, Higher Study Allowance: What Changes for Students in 2026

The year 2026 introduces digital student IDs in the higher education sector and, for the first time, a master's program in psychotherapy at public universities. Additionally, in the winter semester of 2026/27, a year after the new elementary school teaching degree, the program for secondary education (middle school, AHS, BMHS) will also begin. Medical universities will have 50 additional study places. In the fall, universities will receive a new budget for the years 2028 to 2030.

Digital Student ID from Summer Semester

Starting from the summer semester, the new digital student ID will be rolled out via ID Austria: students will receive this in addition to their regular ID. It will be valid for all studies for which there is admission at Austrian universities, universities of applied sciences, and teacher training colleges. At the same time, more and more higher education institutions are working on implementing digital admission in their IT systems. This allows students to enroll paperlessly in the future and no longer have to submit stored data and documents separately. Applicants will no longer need to submit all documents relevant for admission (e.g., passport, school-leaving certificate) separately - these can be retrieved by the institutions from the central registration or education register.

500 Study Places in the New Psychotherapy Master's Program

In the winter semester of 2026/27, the new master's program in psychotherapy will start at ten universities with a total of 500 study places. Registrations are possible from March 2, and the entrance test will take place uniformly across Austria on July 6. As in medicine, 75 percent of the places will be allocated to Austrians and will be dedicated to tasks in the public interest.

Speaking of medical studies: the number of places will be expanded by another 50 to 1,950 from the academic year 2026/27 (1,806 in human medicine and 144 in dentistry) - in two years, there will be another increase to 2,000, then the currently ongoing expansion plan will be completed. The number of study places dedicated to the public interest will be slightly increased from 85 to 87.

New Teacher Training Program Also for Secondary Level

One year after the new program for primary school teacher training, the new teacher training program for the secondary level will also start in the winter semester of 2026/27. Future teachers for middle schools, AHS, and BMHS will have to complete a three-year bachelor's and a two-year master's program. The training will thus be shortened by one year.

In September 2026, the study grant will increase: both the rates and the additional income limit will be raised by 2.7 percent. A new regulation for foreign funding will come into effect as early as March, through which around 1.2 million euros more will flow into the support of study stays abroad.

New University Budget and New FH Development Plan

There is also a lot on the agenda in terms of higher education policy. A new university budget for the years 2028 to 2030 must be negotiated by autumn. Additionally, a new development and financing plan for universities of applied sciences for the years 2026/27 to 2028/29 will be developed, and work will be done on the Higher Education Strategy 2040. In the summer of 2026, the regularly conducted student social survey is to be presented.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.