At the beginning of the 1960s the number of foreign students in Austria had risen sharply – they soon made up more than 30 per cent of the student body.
It was a concern of the universities and also of the Austrian Student Union to provide the necessary basic conditions for these students to successfully complete their studies before they entered the university. In addition to German courses, plans were made to set up "preparatory courses" to enable future students from abroad to reach a common entry level.
For this purpose the "Austrian Foreign Students Service" was founded on 13 November by the Austrian Student Union and the Austrian Rectors' Association.
Offers that are still part of the OeAD’s (until 2009: "ÖAD") services today were already developed and implemented in the early days.
For example, the University Preparation Programmes were one of the new organisation’s main tasks from the very beginning. Likewise, the accommodation service for foreign students was a focal point early on. Counselling in scholarship matters but also in legal matters such as residence or labour law were also central tasks of the OeAD as early as the 1960s.
The responsible federal ministries commissioned the OeAD with the disbursement of state scholarships to foreign students as early as 1962 – a milestone for the OeAD’s rise to its current importance.
Social and cultural aspects of the guidance for foreign students as well as follow-up support for former scholarship holders were also part of the OeAD’s portfolio already early on.
Since then the OeAD has developed very much. In 2021 we would therefore like to take you on a journey through the OeAD’s history, present and future.
Find out more and follow us on #oead60.
The information provided here is taken from Volume II of the OeAD publication series "50 Jahre Bildungsmobilität. Eine kleine Geschichte des OeAD" ("50 Years of Educational Mobility. A brief history of the OeAD", available only in German).
