Graz or Vienna

The VGUH is the preparatory course run by Graz's universities — Vienna's equivalent is the VWU. You can only register for it once you have an admission notice, a Zulassungsbescheid, from one of the Graz universities: the university assigns you supplementary exams first, and only then do you join the course. So the choice between Graz and Vienna gets made when you apply to the university, not later.¹

What you gain and what you lose in Graz

What you gain:

• Money, if you're assigned German only. In Vienna you'd then study German at a VWU partner, one of three language schools, at €1,890 a semester. Graz has no partners, and a semester there costs €500.^2–4
• Written exams in the subjects. History, geography, biology, physics, chemistry and mathematics are all written-only exams in Graz. In Vienna, mathematics is both written and oral, and the other five subjects are oral only. Written exams are easier if speaking German under pressure is hard for you.^5·6
• Student residences, in autumn 2026 at least. On 25 September 2026, all 26 Vienna residences on the OeAD Housing list were marked full, and none of the four in Graz carried that marking. That's a snapshot from a single day, so check for yourself before you decide.^7·8

What you lose:

• Attempts. Graz gives you four attempts at each exam, and if you fail one part, you retake both. Vienna's VWU gives five attempts, and the written and oral parts count separately.^5·6·9
• Money on subject exams. An attempt in Graz costs €66 for any subject, while in Vienna history, geography, biology, physics and chemistry cost €46 each.^4·10
• Choice of programme. You can't switch from the programme you were admitted to until you finish the VGUH, and a new application to Uni Graz filed during the course gets cancelled.^5·11
• Documents for graduates of Russian schools. Uni Graz requires your EGE results and a translation by a court-certified sworn translator. Uni Wien doesn't ask for the EGE.^12·13

In short: Graz is the better deal if you're assigned German only or speaking German under pressure is hard for you. Vienna is the safer choice if you're worried about running out of attempts or you're not yet sure about your programme.

How to get into the VGUH

You start by applying to a university in Graz. The next window for citizens of non-EU countries to apply to Uni Graz is 16 November to 14 December 2026, for the 2027 summer semester: that's the deadline for programmes without an admission procedure, Aufnahmeverfahren. Supplementary exams don't come into it at this stage — the university assigns them only after you've applied.¹⁴

Since 2026, Uni Graz has required EGE results from graduates of Russian schools. The translation has to come from a court-certified sworn translator, in Austria or abroad. An ordinary translation with notarial certification doesn't count, because a notary only certifies the translator's signature. If your translation is already notarised, ask the university before you send it.¹²

You register in person at the course office with your admission notice and your passport. For the 2026/27 winter semester, registration runs from 6 July to 31 October 2026. If you applied to Uni Graz in November–December for the 2027 summer semester, you register for the course in that same semester, though the course page doesn't list dates for that registration round yet. If you're assigned German, you sit a placement test at the start of the semester, and you're told the date after you register. How long you have depends on what you were assigned: no more than four semesters for German alone, five for German plus subjects, two for subjects alone. The exact limit is stated in your admission notice, and it can't be extended. Vienna's courses also run for four semesters, with a fifth available on request. You need to attend at least 80 percent of classes.^1·6·15·16

You can also sit the exams without attending the course, but then the university won't enrol you for the preparation period, and you won't get a confirmation of studies. Without it, you can't extend the residence permit, which requires proof of academic progress.^1·17·18

If you decide you want Vienna after Graz

The universities don't fully spell out the path from Graz to a Vienna university. Uni Wien recognises a German exam passed at the VGUH, provided it hasn't already admitted you to the VWU preparatory course. If Vienna is your goal, ask the Vienna university you want in advance whether it will recognise your VGUH exams.¹⁹

What the course costs in Graz and in Vienna

The price in Vienna depends on where you study German. If you're assigned German plus subjects, a place at the VWU itself isn't guaranteed: it takes only the top scorers on onSET, the German placement test, the same way an entrance exam would, and everyone else studies German at a partner.⁶

Let's compare two semesters of the course plus one attempt at the German exam. Every retake adds another €66, the same in Vienna and in Graz.

If you're assigned German only, you study at a partner in Vienna unless you fall under one of the citizenship exceptions, and then Graz costs less than a third as much. Who studies where in Vienna is covered in the article on the VWU and its partners. The ÖH student union contribution, €26.20 a semester and the same across Austria, isn't included in the table.^2·4·10·20

The other large costs don't depend on the city. Student insurance costs €78.84 a month, and for the residence permit you need to show €722.58 a month in your account if you're under 24 and €1,308.39 from 24 up, for twelve months in advance. The calculator works out the exact figure with your rent.¹⁸

Housing

Average rent across all current leases, old ones included, is €9.8 per square metre in Styria, the province Graz is the capital of, against €10.6 in Vienna. There's no separate figure for Graz itself, and new leases usually cost more than the average. We don't yet have a dedicated housing guide for Graz, but there is one for Vienna in the article on housing.²¹

How the Graz exams differ from the Vienna ones

Prepare for the subjects with full written papers under time pressure: you won't have to explain your solution out loud to a panel, as in the Vienna physics exam. For mathematics there's a trainer for the Graz exam and eight real VGUH exams from 2023–2025; for German, a trainer for the Graz German exam. Graz names four permitted TI-30 calculator models and hands out the AHS formula collection, from the Austrian Gymnasium, right at the exam.^17·22

The mathematics course in Graz takes one semester, against a year in Vienna, where the oral exam can be replaced by a bonus earned through exercises. You can finish mathematics in Graz faster, but you also have half the time for it, so plan the exam for the end of the first semester. The oral part of the German exam in Graz comes about six working days after the written one, so it's best to start preparing for it before the written exam.^5·17·23

Sources

· 23 checked 25.09.2026

1. 1Vorstudienlehrgang (VGUH) — Universität Graz, Internationale Studierende · checked 25.09.2026
2. 2Erstanmeldung — Vorstudienlehrgang der Wiener Universitäten · checked 20.09.2026
3. 3Über uns — Vorstudienlehrgang der Grazer Universitäten und Hochschulen (VGUH) · checked 25.09.2026
4. 4Gebühren und Unterrichtseinheiten am VGUH, Wintersemester 2026/27 · checked 23.09.2026
5. 5Prüfungsordnung VGUH, gültig ab Sommersemester 2026 · dated 01.01.2026, checked 23.09.2026
6. 6FAQ — Vorstudienlehrgang der Wiener Universitäten · checked 20.09.2026
7. 7Unterkünfte in Graz — OeAD Student Housing · checked 25.09.2026
8. 8Unterkünfte in Wien — OeAD Student Housing · checked 25.09.2026
9. 9Statut des Vorstudienlehrganges der Wiener Universitäten (VWU) · checked 25.09.2026
10. 10Ergänzungsprüfungen — Vorstudienlehrgang der Wiener Universitäten · checked 23.09.2026
11. 11FAQs internationale Studierende — Universität Graz · checked 25.09.2026
12. 12Bewerbung Bachelor-/Diplomstudium — Universität Graz · checked 25.09.2026
13. 13Infos für Drittstaatsangehörige — Universität Wien · checked 25.09.2026
14. 14Einreichfristen — Universität Graz, Internationale Studierende · checked 25.09.2026
15. 15Kursanmeldung — Vorstudienlehrgang der Grazer Universitäten und Hochschulen · checked 25.09.2026
16. 16Kurse — Vorstudienlehrgang der Grazer Universitäten und Hochschulen · checked 25.09.2026
17. 17VGUH — Prüfungen, Vorstudienlehrgang der Grazer Universitäten · checked 23.09.2026
18. 18Aufenthaltsbewilligung Student (kein Mobilitätsprogramm) — OeAD · checked 20.09.2026
19. 19Deutschnachweise C1 — Universität Wien · checked 25.09.2026
20. 20ÖH-Beitrag — Österreichische Hochschüler_innenschaft · checked 20.09.2026
21. 21Wohnen 2025 — Zahlen, Daten und Indikatoren der Wohnstatistik, Statistik Austria · checked 20.09.2026
22. 22Physik — vwu-info.at · checked 20.09.2026
23. 23Unterrichtsorganisation und Prüfungsregelung in Mathematik (WS 2026) · dated 13.09.2026, checked 18.09.2026