You can write an email to coronainfo@oeh.ac.at at any time. We do our best to reply as fast as possible.

According to the regulations, the period during which courses are not allowed to be held (e.g.: summer holidays, February, etc.) has been revoked. That means that all lectures and exams can be held during the months of the summer holiday (Juli, August, September).
The course lecturer are still legally obligated to offer at least three different dates for final exams per semester.

No, the rectorate of your academic institution can decide to extend the STEOP period by an additional semester - which would mean winter semester 2020/21 - if you enrolled in summer semester 2020. Additionally, the rector of your institution has the power to raise the maximum amount of ECTS credits that you’re allowed to obtain before finishing the STEOP.

If the disruption was only for a short period of time, the exam can be continued. If the problem is persistent the exam has to be called off, but will not be considered as an attempt.

If measurements taken due to the pandemic hinder you from finishing your thesis the institution is obligated to extend the period of submission. The extension period equals the time during which you where unable to continue to work on your thesis.

All students that are affected by the pandemic can apply for a leave of absence until a certain deadline that is set by the rectorate. All ECTS credits that were completed until this point stay valid, the tuition/students union fees don’t have to be paid or will be refunded.
The student can end the “general” leave of absence for the summer semester 2020 with the end of the extension period (30. June) if he/she wants to complete exams or lectures in the holiday months (July to September). If the student ends the leave of absence by the end of the extension period the the tuition/ÖH fees has to be reimbursed.

Yes, he/she is allowed to do so. Ask the head of the study program or the Austrian students representatives (ÖH) of your FH to receive a guideline concerning online exams. All changes to used methods, dates, execution and assessment criterion of the course must be relayed to the students in a timely manner. Please keep in mind, that even if changes are less than ideal, you might profit more from completing it now than to await the issue.

Yes, the examine is allowed to let at least one other person of his/her choosing witness the examination, either personally or online.

As an unfortunate reaction to an exceptional situation, several companies have cancelled all internship positions for this summer. The internships can be replaced by some form of compensation or can be completed later on like in the holiday months, during the following semester or after completing the 6. or 4. semester. You can get more detailed information for your specific program from the head of the study program.

If measurements taken due to the pandemic hinder you from finishing your thesis the FH has to extend the period of submission.

If you have already received a negative result for the board examination you can repeat the last academic year. If you can proof that you where in any way affected by the pandemic (e.g.: your where quarantined, volunteered, took care of parents/children/,etc.) you have a legal claim to repeat the exam.
We recommend that you get in contact with the ÖH at your academic institution to talk with them about the circumstances you’re in and get consultation about further steps you can take. All applications for a repetition of an academic year have to be filed with the head of the study program.

The summer semester 2020 will not be taken into account regarding the maximum support period. That means, that it is not included into the calculation of the maximum time period that funding can be granted (= minimum duration of study of your degree + 1 additional semester of tolerance).

Yes, you can apply to prolong your scholarship for a maximum of 6 months. This is only possible if you can proof that delays in your studies where due to the pandemic.

According to the directives: Yes! §3 Abs C-StuFV roughly states: “If a student continued his/ her studies in summer semester 2020, the period to proof an required academic success will be extended by an additional semester. This also applies to students that need to provide the required performance records of previous semesters to continue to receive funding in summer semester 2020.

According to our estimations: If a student had to complete a total of 30 ECTS-credits until the 15th of May to continue to receive funding in the summer semester 2020, he/ she has now an additional semester to complete the required amount of ECTS-credits.

According to the directives: Yes. §3 Abs 2 C-StudFV roughly states: “ If a student hasn’t surpassed the legal minimum duration of his/ her studies (§18 StudFG) or the legally defined additional semesters of tolerance (§19 StudFG), the maximum time limit to receive funding will be extended by an additional semester.

Example: During my bachelor studies I received the regular student grant for seven semesters. Even though I’ve reached my 8th semester now, I am still eligible to receive funding because I had an important reason that obstructed me from continuing my studies (e.g.: because of sickness, volunteered for the ÖH, childcare, medical care of relatives, etc.). Am I automatically eligible to receive funding during the winter semester 2020 as well?

According to the directives: Yes. § 3 Abs 2 C-StuFV roughly states: “If a student hasn’t surpassed the legal minimum duration of his/ her studies (§18 StudFG) or the legally defined additional semesters of tolerance (§19 StudFG), the maximum time limit to receive funding will be extended by an additional semester.

A. Because I want to use the neutral semester to pursue other things than studying
B. I need to take care and provide for a child. Because my children are at home all day I am unable to partake in online courses or exams.

In case of A.: No. We highly recommend to take advantage of all available lectures and courses as the COVID-19 regulations state that the student must still be in pursuit of his/ her studies for the extended deadlines to apply. That means that the extended period of providing the required performance records will only be extended if the student was obstructed from continuing his/ her studies by causes related to the higher academic institution itself (cancelled lectures and exams, etc.).
If the student still has the possibility to complete lectures and/ or exams at his/ her higher academic institution (e.g.: through alternative examination methods like essays instead of exams, online examinations, etc.) and chooses not to partake in those out of any reasons, repayment claims might arise.

In case of B.: Unfortunately, the answer is also No as the same issues as in case A apply. The § 2 C-StudFV roughly states: “The entitlement to receive the student grant in summer semester 2020 remains, even if the students was unable to continue his/ her studies as planned due to measurements taken by the academic institutions as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
If the student was unable to continue his/ her studies because he/ she had to take care of a relative or children, the university itself is not at fault of the obstruction to the academic success of the student and therefore, repayment claims might occur.
Knowing fully well that it is a lot to ask for, we recommend that every student takes advantage of the lectures/ exams that their study program offers right now.
Excluded from this condition is the graduation scholarship (§ 3 Abs 4 C-StudFV) where the funding period can be extended by another semester if the student was obligated to take care of a relative/ child.

No. The C-StudFV only applies to the subsidies referred to under the student support act (e.g.: scholarship of individuals who earn their own livelihood, mobility grand, graduation scholarship, etc.). There are still some missing legal regulations concerning the problems that student have to face due to the pandemic and its consequences for higher academic institutions. If you have issues or need legal counseling, please feel free to contact the office for social policy of the ÖH: sozial@oeh.ac.at

According to our legal team: Yes. However, the amendment to the FLAG doesn’t not provide specif-ic answers. The original regulations, according to § 2 Abs. 1 lit b state, that in a case of an unfore-seen or inevitable situation that occurred during a time period of at least three months, the deadline can be extended by an additional semester. As of right now, we believe that students that normally have until the 30th of November to provide proof of completing a total of 16 ECTS credits (or 8 “Se-mesterwochenstunden” = “SE”) in the previous two semesters, or 24 ECTS credits (or 12 SE) in the previous three semesters have an additional semester to complete the required amount of credits.

No. Basically, the FLAG states that the maximum time to receive funding is until the 24th birthday or, in case of completing the civil service, pregnancy, etc., until the 25th birthday. For other reasons it is possible to receive funding for another semester. The new amendment §2 Abs 9 lit b FLAG further notes that: “The period of entitlement to receive funding as defined Abs. 1 lit. b (...) will be extended in accordance with the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, regardless of the dura-tion of the crisis and depending on to the following conditions: B) (...) for children of legal age that visit an academic institutions as defined by the students support act (...), and that have a legal claim to receive the subsidy are able to receive funding for another semester or another year, if the maxi-mum age limit to receive funding was not surpassed before the crisis occurred.”

... TO CONTINUE TO RECEIVE THE FAMILY ALLOWANCE I WILL NEED TO DO SO BEFORE THE THIRD SEMESTER OF THE FIRST PROGRAM HAS STARTED. DOES THE SUMMER SEMESTER 2020 WILL BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION OR COULD I LOSE MY ENTITLEMENT TO RECEIVE FUNDING?

Answer: According to our information: No. Unfortunately the new regulations do also not answer this case specifically. However, the change of study program is regulated by the student support act (StudFG) § 17 . § 3 Abs. 6 of the new COVID-19 directives concerning the student support act (C-StudFV) roughly states : “The summer semester 2020 will not be taken into consideration while changing the study program as defined in §17 Abs. 1 Z 2 and Abs. 3 StudFG.”
In general, a change of study program has to be done before the third semester, otherwise a delayed change of a degree program applies, meaning that it if a student changes his/ her degree program after more than three semesters, the student has to provide an minimum amount of credits in the new program before being eligible to receive further funding.

FAQs of the Ministry of Family Affairs can be found here: FAQs of the Ministry of Family Affairs
In addition, the Ministry of Family Affairs has issued an explanatory information in which specific individual cases are outlined: Information sheet of the Ministry of Family Affairs

Courses and exams are held mainly in digital form. Nevertheless, individual, non-substitutable courses or exams can take place at universities in person as an exception - this includes e.g. laboratory exercises that cannot be adapted for distance learning due to the technical modalities.