Oostenrijk worstelt met vrije toegang Duitse studenten tot universiteiten (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - University students in Austria are likely to face stricter admission requirements, under new measures to tackle the huge numbers of students from other member states trying to study there.

The move, presented by education minister Elisabeth Gehrer, would set up tough selection criteria and lead to a restricted intake for all students - including Austrians - in the seven faculties most affected by overcrowding: medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, pharmaceutical studies, biology, psychology and economics.

The decision comes just two months after the European Court of Justice ordered Austria to open up to foreign students.

Until now, Austria required applicants from outside the country to prove they had been accepted into a university in their country of origin before they would be considered for Austrian third level education.

But this was ruled as discrimination on the grounds of nationality by the EU's top court in July.

Numerous Germans

The stricter measures will mainly affect German students, who came to Austria in droves - particularly to its medical and veterinary schools.

Speaking the same language, Germans were able to take advantage of the 'first come, first served' rule in Austria, if they had failed to enrol in a university at home.

As a result 1,500 Austrians and 1,500 Germans competed for 1,560 places at Vienna's Medical School this semester, according to the lastest figures from the Department for Education.

Innsbruck, with 447 Austrians and 2,147 Germans applying for 550 places, and Graz, with 917 Austrians and 1,964 Germans fighting for 300 spots, face even greater pressure.

Mrs Gehrer said that a "country of eight million cannot provide a study place for a country of eighty million".

Brussels to tackle the issue

Brussels has said it will tackle the problem with a new working group - looking at all mobility related issues, including the transferability of student grants and loans, a strong instrument in the promotion of mobility.

The rule of equal access and conditions for EU students has sparked criticism in other countries as well.

In Britain, the number of students from around the EU is expected to reach roughly 100,000 this year, leading the opposition Conservatives to claim that British taxpayers would have to pay out around €73 million a year to subsidise grants and loans for students from the rest of the bloc.

But in principle, the EU encourages student mobility as it hopes it will contribute to the bloc's economy becoming more dynamic.

In the academic year 2003/2004 more than 150,000 Europeans benefited from the EU's exchange programme - known as Erasmus - which is a significant 9.4 percent up from the previous year.

In comparison, 572,509 international students attended US institutions in the academic year 2003/2004.