Kufstein University receives 25 new study places from 2025

Kufstein University of Applied Sciences will also benefit from the expansion of the University of Applied Sciences from the 2025/2026 academic year through additional federally funded university places and will expand its range of courses accordingly. “We are delighted to have been considered in the current call,” says Sara Neubauer, Head of Quality & Project Management at Kufstein University. “With the 25 places awarded to us, we will further expand our Master's degree program in Data Science & Intelligent Analytics, which has been offered purely on a part-time basis to date, in order to counteract the shortage of skilled workers in STEM professions in our region. The English-language full-time Master's degree course in Data Science & Intelligent Analytics is scheduled to start in the winter semester 2025/26, subject to accreditation by AQ Austria.”

RECORD UNIVERSITY EXPANSION WITH 800 ADDITIONAL STUDY PLACES

Universities of Applied Sciences are an indispensable pillar of the Austrian higher education system. On the occasion of the launch of the first university of applied sciences degree courses 30 years ago, Education, Science and Research Minister Martin Polaschek decided to take the largest expansion step in this sector to date. The 800 additional federally funded university of applied sciences places are more than double the 250 additional places for beginners listed in the current university of applied sciences development and financing plan. “With our focus on labor market-oriented and practical vocational training at an academic level, we produce precisely those graduates who are urgently needed as specialists and managers on the labor market,” says Neubauer. “This makes us all the more appreciative of being able to expand what we believe is a forward-looking offering in the digital field and align it even better with the needs of the economy.”

As application-oriented researching and teaching higher education institutions, we need future-proof structures that will enable us to continue to fulfill our overall mission as universities of applied sciences in a high-quality manner in the future, said the President of the Austrian Conference of Universities of Applied Sciences (FHK), Ulrike Prommer, in a press release from the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research. Of the total of 800 additional university of applied sciences places, 351 are for STEM (mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, technology), digitalization and sustainability, 449 are for other subject areas with a particularly acute need for skilled workers.