Statistics: Law studies are the most frequently abandoned

Anyone who passes the entrance exam and enrolls in medicine at a public university is very likely to complete their studies. An analysis by Statistics Austria shows that 86 percent of students successfully complete their studies after ten years. Only just under eleven percent were abandoned or interrupted. In contrast, 69 percent of students with a Bachelor of Laws completed their studies after ten years – more than in any other study group. Only 26 percent were completed.

According to the study, the situation is not much better for law degree courses that began in 2012/13: as of 2021/22, only a third of the courses were successfully completed after ten years, and 56 percent were abandoned or interrupted.

There are also a comparatively high number of dropouts or interruptions in the large study groups in the natural science diploma courses (66 percent), while the situation is somewhat better in the natural science bachelor courses (57 percent). There, significantly more courses were successfully completed after ten years (41 percent compared to 26).

Two thirds of dropouts or interruptions also occur in the humanities and cultural sciences (Bachelor) and the teacher training diploma courses that were discontinued due to the change in teacher training to a Bachelor-Master structure. In the social sciences and economics, 58 percent of both Bachelor and Diploma courses were not completed after ten years.

Low dropout rate in artistic studies

Conversely, the most successful courses are the Bachelor’s courses in the arts, which, like medicine, have a highly selective admission process. 73 percent of the courses here lead to a degree after ten years, while a quarter of the courses were interrupted or abandoned.

According to the longitudinal study, long-term students have become quite rare in the most frequently enrolled study groups. Only in the law and natural sciences degree courses are just over a tenth of students still studying after ten years, while in the other study groups it is only a fraction of that.

Across all subjects, after ten years, 21 percent of university students have completed their bachelor’s degree and 33 percent have completed their diploma or master’s degree, and just under one percent have achieved a doctorate. 28 percent of those who started their studies in 2012/13 have interrupted or dropped out of their studies, just under one percent have transferred to another university, and ten percent have completed a degree at another university; seven percent are still studying.

Good graduation rate at universities of applied sciences

At the universities of applied sciences, with their more structured curricula and fixed study duration, the graduation rates after ten years are between 63 and 92 percent, depending on the study group. The highest rates of dropouts and study interruptions are in technical and engineering studies (37 percent), and the lowest are in military and security science or health science bachelor’s programs with less than ten percent.

In terms of type of institution, the number of dropouts is highest at universities: within three semesters, the figure is 38 percent for bachelor’s degree courses and 22 percent for diploma courses. At universities of applied sciences, the figure is 19 percent for bachelor’s degree courses and 14 percent for teacher training colleges.