The target group for the survey was all regular students (i.e. excl. non-degree university courses) at state and private universities, universities of applied sciences and state and private university colleges of teacher education, with the exception of:

  • students who were on a semester abroad (or a full-semester internship abroad) in the summer semester 2023 and were not taking any courses at their Austrian higher education institution during that period (“outgoing students”)
  • exchange students, who were only studying at an Austrian higher education institution for 1 or 2 semesters, i.e. who started their degree abroad and also planned to complete it abroad (“incoming students”)
  • students who were on a leave of absence in the summer semester 2023
  • students who were studying at a foreign location of an Austrian higher education institution
  • students who where pursuing exclusively a doctorate/ PhD programme
  • students who were pursuing exclusively a university preparation programme
  • students who were studying the university of applied sciences degree programme in Military Leadership or Police Leadership

The survey ran from May to June 2023. All students were invited to participate in the online survey by e-mail at the beginning of May 2023.