International
Welcome to the International Centre
About 12% of our students are "international students" with foreign nationality and/or having completed a foreign degree before starting their current studies at our university.
Distance-learning students study most of the time at home. For about 3% this means: from neighbouring countries like Germany, Italy, Switzerland or Slovakia; but there are also students coming from Poland or even arrive every two months from Russia for the on-campus sessions.
Distance learning includes an international dimension
This is possible because we have orientated our learning and teaching methods towards the acquirement of a higher education qualification for people who still have to assume other family related, social, or professional responsibilities. All courses are offered exclusively as blended learning programs: We meet three times a semester for two days for on-campus sessions in Wiener Neustadt (Lower Austria). The rest of the time, students will be provided with learning materials and interactive learning and communication tools via a web-based learning management system (Online Campus) which can be used asynchronously at any time of the day and anywhere in the world. This can be somewhere in Austria, but also in Berlin or St. Petersburg, or during a work-related stay in South Korea, or an adventurous north-south crossing of Africa. And so do our lecturers: Some of them live and teach in Austria, but others from their home university in Tübingen, Bamberg, Munich or Riverside, California.
Distance learning is by definition a mode of study that includes an international dimension. In addition, the Distance-Learning University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt (FERNFH) is expanding its international network right now.
We are pleased to welcome you at the "International Centre" and cordially invite you to participate in the future of international mobility programmes: Where non-traditional becomes the new normal.
Freemover@FERNFH - Study a semester at FERNFH
Freemover@FERNFH offers part-time students or students with caring responsibilities from abroad, who would like to/must spend a semester abroad, the opportunity to gain experience and complete their studies without having to change their place of residence for an entire semester/year. A co-operation agreement between the home university/college and the FERNFH is not necessary.
Everything you need to know for your Freemover@FERNFH study programme:
Freemovers are students who organise their studies abroad as guest students autonomously, i.e. in contrast to exchange students, independently of the exchange or cooperation agreements of their own university.
Anyone who wants/needs to spend a semester abroad and is enrolled at a university.
Application process
Please send enquiries directly to the FERNFH International Centre via email (ic(at)fernfh.ac.at).
In agreement with you, the administration and the study programme director(s), you will receive a learning agreement for credit mobility for freemovers as well as a letter of acceptance (enclosing the selected courses in which semester, from which study programme and ECTS).
You will provide us with proof from your home university, that the courses you have selected will be recognised and accredited.
The administration will enrol you as a freemover and send you the relevant information/mails.
Documents required:
- Proof of active enrolment at a higher education institution
- Valid passport
- Birth certificate
- Proof of your highest level of education
- Photograph
- Current address and mobile phone number
The application deadline for the winter semester ends on June 30 and for the summer semester on November 30.
The freemover tuition fee is € 400,- per semester (plus student union fee).
Whether you have to travel to the FERNFH as a freemover for the on-campus-sessions is the responsibility of the respective programme director(s).
ECTS
- All courses at FERNFH are allocated ECTS credits.
- 1 ECTS credit point corresponds to 25 real working hours.
- The workload of an academic year is measured with 60 ECTS credits, that of a semester with 30 ECTS credits.
Assessment
Assessment is based on a grading system from 1-5, whereby
- outstanding achievements are graded 1 (very good),
- generally good performance with 2 (good),
- balanced performance with a few significant errors is graded 3 (satisfactory),
- performances that just meet the minimum requirements with 4 (sufficient),
- and - unsatisfactory performance with 5 (not sufficient); they require a repetition of the performance.
The Transcript of Records will be sent to you immediately after completion of the "semester abroad" via download in FHelix.
All courses at FERNFH are held in German. If German is not your first language, you can only be admitted if you have an appropriate knowledge of the German language (level B2).
Please check oead.at/en/to-austria/entry-and-residence to see whether you need a visa or other residence documents to enter and stay in Austria.
You have further questions?
If you have any further questions, you can contact the FERNFH International Centre at any time via ic(at)fernfh.ac.at.
Additional information and documents
Contact persons
International Centre
Prof. (FH) DI Dr.
Martin Staudinger