Austria's universities are in a nosedive: Where is the educational excellence?

Austria's universities are in a nosedive: Where is the educational excellence?

The current university rankings show that universities in Austria are losing ground in international comparison. In the QS University Ranking 2026 The University of Vienna remains the best-ranked university in the country, but falls to 152nd place, compared to 137th place last year. The Vienna University of Technology is also affected and slips to 197th place, after being 190th in the previous ranking. Other universities such as the University of Innsbruck, TU Graz and the University of Linz also show declining rankings.

The ranking shows that the University of Innsbruck is now listed in 350th place, TU Graz in 427th place, the University of Linz in 473rd place, and the University of Salzburg in 650th place. The University of Klagenfurt ranks 697th. The only positive exception is the University of Graz, which has improved to 668th place. The main reasons for the declines are worsening feedback from employers worldwide and poorer results in graduate citations and employment outcomes.

University of Vienna in detail

The University of Vienna, founded in 1365 by Duke Rudolf IV, is the oldest university in German-speaking countries and one of the largest in Central Europe. It offers around 178 degree courses and 40 continuing education programs and has around 45,000 active students. With around 7,000 academic employees, it is the largest teaching and research institution in Austria.

The university aims to promote a wide range of courses, develop new research fields and establish networks between departments. It maintains partnerships with over 300 European universities as part of ERASMUS, from which students from around 130 countries benefit every year and take part in over 10,000 lectures.

General overview of the universities

According to the data provided by Statista The higher education landscape in Austria is diverse. There are a total of six public universities, eight private universities, four technical colleges and five teacher training colleges. The last access to the relevant data was on June 19, 2025. The evaluation shows that the country's best universities lag behind leading institutions, especially from the USA and Great Britain, in the international assessment.

The dominance of universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) illustrates how strong the competitive pressure is on Austrian universities. The developments in the ranking could have long-term effects on the attractiveness and international competitiveness of local universities.