Despite expansion in participation, Austrian higher education remains somewhat elitist. However, concepts of efficiency, strategic planning, deregulation, and performance evaluation are creating pressure for policy change. Inadequate admissions policies, overcrowding, and high dropout rates need to be addressed. (Author/MSE)

Educational policy should not be geared to short-term changes in economic development, but must take long-range perspectives. In Austria, although efforts have been made to improve curriculum development to meet social and economic change, greater communication between higher education and the trades and professions is needed. (MSE)