New Design University

The New Design University is a private university in St. Pölten, Austria, founded in 2004 by the Lower Austrian Chamber of Commerce and its training arm, WIFI NÖ. It is state-recognised and accredited by AQ Austria, and presents itself as a place where creativity, business and practice are taught together.

Studies run from bachelor’s and master’s degrees to a doctoral programme and university courses, around business administration through Management by Design, event engineering, interior architecture, graphic design, and design, crafts and material culture. Applicants to interior architecture, graphic design or design and crafts submit a portfolio of 15 to 20 works; a high school diploma is not required at entry for several programmes, and a two-semester Foundation Course prepares those still choosing a direction.

Teaching is deliberately small-scale: close to 600 students, personal supervision, small study groups, one-to-one coaching with professors and work on real projects, plus extra qualifications such as pyrotechnics training. Students also sit on university committees and in the Austrian National Union of Students.

The campus is at Mariazeller Straße 97a in St. Pölten, served by public transport. As a researching university, the NDU pairs individual support with theory grounded in practice, and runs Student for a Day and Walk & Talk for prospective applicants.