Embarrassing faux pas

480 people mistakenly promised a place at FH

Due to a technical error, the Vienna University of Applied Sciences of WKW mistakenly sent out study place confirmations to 480 people, which it had to withdraw the next day due to the limited number of places. Those affected are now on a waiting list.

At universities of applied sciences, there are only a limited number of places for each degree course, for which you have to apply in an admissions procedure.

Erroneous acceptance
In the email with the erroneous acceptance, applicants were asked to officially register within four days and transfer the tuition fee, otherwise the place would be given to the next person on the waiting list.

"Of the 480 recipients of the correction email, only 35 had already accepted the erroneously offered place in the online application portal and paid the tuition fee."

Aussendung der FHWien der WKW

FH has already responded
"Of the 480 recipients of the correction e-mail, only 35 had already accepted the erroneously offered study place in the online application portal and paid the tuition fee," FHWien der WKW said in a press release on Thursday evening. Only "a few" of these 35 applicants had stated that they had immediately canceled study places at other universities.

Number of study places limited
They cannot guarantee a place to the rejected applicants because there are only a certain number of state-funded study places for each Bachelor's and Master's degree course, according to a report in the "Kurier" newspaper. Instead, the FH recommends informing the other universities about the incorrect acceptance.

According to FHWien der WKW, some of those affected - regardless of the incident - have since moved up from the waiting list and received an actual offer of a place. It expects that this will be the case for even more applicants.

The Austrian Students' Union (ÖH) has not yet received any complaints about the case. They are advising those affected to contact their in-house lawyers.