by Philipp Steger

Over many decades, Austrian Universities have consistently provided free, high quality education to a broad range of students. Anyone with the “Matura,” the Austrian equivalent of a high school diploma, could choose one or more of the many Austrian universities offering a myriad of disciplines ranging from law and medicine to more exotic ones such as tibetology or oceanography (exotic only in landlocked Austria). And money was not an issue: universities didn’t charge tuition, and the state provided an elaborate system of scholarships and other financial assistance to allow students from lower income families to cover their expenses without having to work while attending university. It was, undoubtedly, a system which benefited many, making university education accessible to people from varied backgrounds and improving their chances of creating successful professional lives.

by Sigurd Höllinger

The University Act of 2002 represents a continuation of policies in place since 1990, whereby the Austrian universities are being progressively weaned away from a system traditionally based on central command and control, and towards autonomy. The previous reforms did not go far enough, and embodied too many compromises. The new Act has opened the way for decisive changes, which the universities are now in the process of planning and implementing.

by Max Kothbauer

When shifting from business and administration to the university realm, one realizes that, in the latter, perceptions of phenomena may differ considerably from those in other areas. That is why my perspectives on university reform may be unlike those from other points of view.

by Reinhard Folk

Only nine years after the University Act of 1993 – without any evaluation of the 1993 reform – the new government decided to change the university law again. This so called “reform” was driven by the ideas of the “New Public Management” and neo-liberal policy: The universities should become responsible for their own concerns (fully legal autonomy) while the state’s responsibility would be reduced to financing the universities on the basis of performance agreements (Leistungsvereinbarung). Teaching and research are considered satisfying demands of customers (students as customers of university teachers, and industry as customers of university researchers). Since the university law of 1975, the ‘curia’ of professors, the junior faculty (Mittelbau), the students, and (since 1993) the non-faculty personnel were organized into distinct federal institutions to accompany the democratically-organized self-administration of the universities. Apart from the students’ institution, the others have now been abolished while the ‘curia’ has been retained.