AT · Master's
University of Innsbruck
MA Media, Society and Communication
University of Innsbruck
Deadline detail: 15 May for non-EU/third-country applicants (winter semester start); 15 October if you are applying for a summer-semester admission
Course Overview
Media, Society and Communication is the University of Innsbruck's English-taught Master of Arts in communication studies — four semesters, 120 ECTS, run by the Department of Media, Society and Communication. The English delivery matters: Innsbruck's older MA Medien, in the Faculty of Language, Literature and Culture, is a German-language philological degree, so this is the media master's a Sri Lankan applicant without German should be looking at.
The subject matter is squarely contemporary — digital platforms, networks and infrastructures, and the processes of digitalisation and datafication: how they are used, how media practices form around them, and what they do to societies, organisations and institutions. The department organises its work around media change and innovation, democracy and society, and the socio-cultural and socio-technical dimensions of media, with taught emphasis on emerging media, media sustainability and digital democracy. You come out able to research a platform ecosystem properly, not just describe it.
The economics are the reason to look closely. Innsbruck is an Austrian public university, so non-EU tuition is €726.72 a semester plus the students' union fee — roughly €1,500 a year, a fraction of a comparable communications master's in the UK or Australia. Innsbruck is an alpine city of about 130,000 in Tirol, small and walkable, though student housing is genuinely tight because of the tourism trade, so apply for a Studentenheim place the moment you have an offer. Two honest caveats: Innsbruck is not a media capital, so the substantial internships happen in Vienna, Munich or Zurich, and the regional graduate job market is German-speaking — treat learning German as part of the degree, not an optional extra.
Entry Requirements
Academic
- check_circle A completed Bachelor's degree in a subject-related field — communication or media studies, journalism, sociology, political science, cultural studies, marketing or a comparable social-science discipline.
- check_circle Sri Lankan applicants from mass communication at Kelaniya, sociology or political science at Colombo, Peradeniya or Sri Jayewardenepura, or media, marketing and business degrees at NSBM, SLIIT, IIT, APIIT or NIBM fit the entry profile.
- check_circle Your Sri Lankan bachelor's — the three- or four-year degree you entered on your GCE A/L results, with the A/L itself as the school-leaving qualification behind it — is assessed by the university for equivalence to an Austrian bachelor's. Supplementary coursework is occasionally imposed where the prior degree is light on relevant credits, so ask admissions early what would apply to yours.
- check_circle Non-EU/third-country applicants apply online by 15 May for the winter semester — an absolute cut-off, with no rolling admission afterwards.
- check_circle Documents to upload: bachelor's award notice, transcript, diploma supplement, language certificate, CV, passport and a passport photograph. Sinhala or Tamil documents need certified translation into English or German.
- check_circle The Austrian student residence permit is applied for at the Austrian representation accredited to Sri Lanka once you hold the letter of admission, with proof of funds at the threshold indexed annually in Austrian law. Start it the week your admission arrives — it is the slowest step in the process.
English Proficiency
- check_circle The programme is taught entirely in English. German is not required for admission or for the degree itself.
- check_circle Proof of English at CEFR B2 must be submitted at the time of application, not later — an incomplete application at the 15 May deadline is simply not assessed.
- check_circle IELTS Academic: 5.5 Overall or above; TOEFL iBT: 72 or above; Pearson PTE Academic: 59 or above; Cambridge B2 First (FCE) accepted. Test certificates are valid two years from the exam date.
- check_circle No test is needed if you completed a school-leaving certificate or Bachelor's degree taught and examined in English — the university accepts institutional documents proving this, and that proof has unlimited validity. Sri Lankan graduates of English-medium programmes should obtain a Medium of Instruction letter from their registrar and submit it in place of an IELTS score.
- check_circle German at A2-B1 is worth building anyway: it opens internships, part-time work in Innsbruck and the Austrian graduate job market. The university runs language courses for students.
Estimated Cost of Study
| Expense Category | Amount (€) | Approx. LKR |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition & ÖH Students' Union Fee (per year, non-EU) | €1,503 | Rs. 518,535 |
| Living Expenses in Innsbruck (per year) | €11,400 | Rs. 3,933,000 |
| Health Insurance & Residence Permit | €800 | Rs. 276,000 |
| Visa, Document Translation & Airfare | €1,300 | Rs. 448,500 |
| Books, Laptop & Study Materials | €900 | Rs. 310,500 |
| Total Year 1 Investment | €15,903 | Rs. 5,486,535 |
*LKR conversion based on current bank rates. Subject to change.
Career Outcomes & PR
Graduates of an Austrian degree may apply for a 12-month residence permit to look for work, converting to a Red-White-Red Card on a qualifying offer and then to an EU Blue Card for wider European mobility — so the degree buys a full year of job-searching inside the country rather than a flight home at graduation. The roles are communications and platform-facing: digital and social strategy, corporate and public communications, PR, media research and insights, policy work on platforms and digital democracy, editorial and content roles, and research-assistant posts leading to a PhD. Realistic employers include the Tirol media scene around Moser Holding and the Tiroler Tageszeitung, ORF, A1 Telekom Austria and Magenta in Vienna, Red Bull Media House in Salzburg, the Styria and Russmedia publishing groups, the Vienna agency networks, and the international organisations headquartered in Vienna. Be clear-eyed that most of these want German; without it you compete for the English-language subset, which is real but smaller. Sri Lankan returnees take digital and content strategy roles at Dialog Axiata, SLT-Mobitel, Derana, MTV/MBC Networks, News First and Roar Media, communications and brand positions at John Keells, MAS Holdings and Hemas, and research or planning roles at the Colombo agency networks and in the NGO and development-communication sector.
Related Programs
MA Communication Science
University of Salzburg
MSc in Media and Convergence Management
University of Klagenfurt
MSc Communication Science
University of Vienna
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