Office for Education Politics

The core mission of the Educational Policy Unit is to observe, analyse and actively shape Austrian educational policy. The governments of the past ten years have further sapped the funding of the country’s educational institutions, to catastrophic effect: Austria’s educational system is among the most socially exclusive, the proportion of university graduates lies far below the EU average, and studying and teaching conditions at most universities are poor.

In line with the commodification of education propagated by the EU Commission, education is now viewed merely as professional training intended to equip graduates for the workplace. Education and scholarly research are tailored to a neo-liberal vision of efficiency. Tuition fees, corporate sponsorship, and direct marketing of scientific research results to companies are supposed to replace public funding as much as possible.

But education is much more than the mere preparation of students for the labour market. That’s why the national delegation of the Austrian Students’ Union stands for an emancipatory concept of education: education must empower students to think critically and to participate actively in shaping society. At the same time, education must be freely accessible to all, regardless of background, socioeconomic circumstances, gender or age.

The Austrian Students’ Union combats both the restriction of educational access and the narrowing of the range of course offerings. We work towards the goal of open institutions of higher education that make possible democratic codetermination, interdisciplinary research and free, non-bureaucratic movement between educational institutions.

Policy Briefs by the ÖH (in German)

Contact and enquiries

Please refer to your local Students’ Union delegation with any questions specifically regarding your course or studies. The links to their homepages can be found here.

You are, however, welcome to contact us with questions related to students’ rights— phone us, write an email, or simply stop by.

Universities and general enquiries (Please mention what and where you study):

Address: Taubstummengasse 7-9, 1040 Wien
Phone: +43/1/310 88 80 - 38
Fax: +43/1/310 88 80 - 36
bipol@oeh.ac.at

Advising in person and by telephone:
Tues 10:00am – 1:00pm*
Thurs 1:00pm – 4:00pm*
(except on official holidays)

* the counselling hours on 20th December will be held 12:00am - 3:00pm. During the winterholiday until 6th January there will be no counselling hours. Urgent questions via e-mail will be answered as soon as possible.

No appointment necessary!

Universities of teacher education
Paedref@oeh.ac.at

Universities of Applied Sciences
FH@oeh.ac.at