Finances as a reason

Seven out of ten students work part-time

Around 24,000 people study at Johannes Kepler University. A lot has been invested in the campus recently.(Bild: Einöder Horst)

Very few of them only sit in the lecture hall: 70 percent of students at the Johannes Kepler University (JKU) Linz work part-time. Around a third work up to 15 hours a week, an average of 21.2 hours.

This is the result of an IMAS study for the student representatives of the ÖH. "The JKU is a working university per se," says researcher Paul Eiselsberg, who surveyed more than 2,500 fellow students online.

41 percent need a job to finance their studies
Working is mostly for financial reasons: 55 percent say they are motivated by the need to improve their budget, while 41 percent even need a job to finance their studies.

The rise in prices is also likely to play a role here: "This has been very noticeable in the canteen," says ÖH Chairman Philipp Bergsmann. The portions have temporarily become smaller and the prices more expensive. A meal currently costs between 5.90 and 7.20 euros.

Mix of online and face-to-face
The topic of digitalization was also surveyed: students do not want to return to purely online lectures as in pandemic times. Instead, they want a mix of face-to-face teaching and digital support. And artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT is used very differently, says Bergsmann: "There are lecturers who actively work with it, while others refuse to do so."

The ÖH is calling for a better work-study balance and more digital offerings, such as online learning materials.