Education Contract

1. General

Legal relationships between students and the private university are governed by express statutory provisions under private law (Section 3(5) of the Private Universities Act (PUG), Federal Law Gazette I 74/2011, as amended).

The signing of the written education contract is a prerequisite for admission to the desired course of study. Pursuant to Section 17(1)(l) of the Private University Accreditation Ordinance (PU-AkkVO), information on the general terms and conditions of the education contracts to be concluded must be made publicly available.

The education contract does not fall under any of the contract types of the ABGB (Austrian Civil Code); on the basis of freedom of contract and form under private law, it is therefore a contract sui generis, but in any case a continuing obligation. As a consumer transaction between an entrepreneur (private university) and a consumer (student), the education contract is also subject to the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act (KSchG, BGBl 1979/140 as amended).

In addition to the education contract itself, there are also general regulations that must be included in the contractual relationship. These include relevant parts of the statutes (examination regulations) as well as the curriculum, house rules, library rules and other rules of use.

2. Main services

The main services provided by the private university are the provision of university-level teaching, the opportunity for degree completion within the specified period of study (however, no specific academic success is guaranteed) and the provision of the necessary resources. On the other side of the synallagmatic contract, students are obliged to pay the tuition fee, to pursue their studies in a proper manner – in compliance with the relevant study regulations, i.e. in particular by attending classes regularly – and to produce the necessary scholarly work.

3. Formal components and ancillary services

In addition to the main services, the education contract contains provisions on the following points, among others:

  • Contracting parties: The education contract is concluded between the legal entity of the private university and the student, or in the case of minors (e.g. in the artistic field, where a school-leaving examination is not normally a prerequisite for admission), represented by their legal representative.
  • Field of study
  • Use of automatically processed data / data protection
  • Compliance with regulations (house rules, library rules and other rules of use)
  • Termination of the education contract: The continuing obligation may be terminated upon expiry of the agreed period, by mutual agreement or by notice of termination, whereby the grounds for termination are stipulated by law and further grounds may also be agreed individually in the contract. Possible reasons for early termination would be the student dropping out of the programme or termination due to poor academic performance.
  • Final provisions: written form requirement, place of jurisdiction, severability clause, place and date of conclusion of the contract, etc.