How did Maria Theresa change higher education at the University of Vienna?

Maria Theresa viewed higher education primarily as a means to train knowledgeable civil servants and judges for her reorganized state administration. To achieve this, she approved significant reforms at the University of Vienna carried out by her physician, Gerhard van Swieten.1

These changes included:

• Curriculum and Instruction: The introduction of textbooks to standardize learning.1
• Institutional Oversight: The sovereign gained the right to veto the election of deans by the university faculties.1
• Medical Integration: The medical school was linked with the public health service.1
• Secularization: The university was taken out of the control of the Jesuits, marking a shift toward subordinating intellectual life to the authority of the state.1