Study in Poland

Polish higher education includes public institutions (comprehensive, technical, medical, economics and arts universities) and private institutions, governed by the 2018 Law on Higher Education and Science. It follows the Bologna structure with ECTS credits: • Bachelor’s (licencjat or inżynier): 3–4 years (180–240 ECTS), with engineering programmes usually 3.5 years. • Master’s (magister): 1.5–2 years (90–120 ECTS). • Long-cycle master’s: 5–6 years for fields such as medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, law and psychology. • PhD: at “doctoral schools”, 3–4 years, tuition-free for all nationalities with a monthly doctoral scholarship. The academic year starts on 1 October and is split into a winter semester (October–February) and a summer semester (February–June); some universities also admit students in February. Free programmes are taught in Polish, and universities and NAWA run one-year Polish preparatory courses.

1) There is no national portal: apply directly through each university’s online registration system (IRK), usually paying PLN 85 per programme, or PLN 100 if there is an exam or interview (as at the University of Warsaw, AGH and Adam Mickiewicz University). 2) Since 1 July 2025 (Act of 4 April 2025), applicants who are not citizens of the EU, EFTA or the UK must: • provide a certificate of at least B2 in the language of instruction (some universities accept IELTS 5.5); • for a bachelor’s or long-cycle master’s, if the school-leaving certificate is from outside the EU and the OECD and is not an IB/EB diploma, obtain a statement from the NAWA Director (through the SYRENA system) confirming it gives access to higher education, and pass a university entrance exam; • for a master’s, obtain a NAWA statement on a degree from outside those countries, unless it is recognised by agreement or nostrification. 3) Each university sets its own dates, mostly between March and July for an October start, sometimes earlier for applicants who need a visa; for example, AGH’s English-taught bachelor’s recruitment ran from June to September 2026. Start early, as the NAWA statement and the visa both take time.

Tuition: full-time study in Polish at public universities is free only for categories set by law, such as EU citizens, permanent residents, refugees and holders of the Pole’s Card (Karta Polaka); other foreigners pay fees, and English-taught programmes charge almost everyone. Each university sets its own fees; examples for 2026–27: • University of Warsaw: EUR 1,000–18,000 a year depending on the programme, with some free for EU citizens only. • AGH University of Krakow: EUR 1,250–3,500 per semester. • Warsaw University of Technology: about EUR 1,800–8,000. • Gdańsk University of Technology: PLN 8,600–10,750 per semester. • University of Wrocław: EUR 3,200–4,200 for the first year. • Jagiellonian University: from PLN 16,000 to EUR 15,500 (English-taught medicine). PhDs at doctoral schools are tuition-free, with a scholarship of PLN 3,570.50 gross a month until the mid-term evaluation and PLN 5,500.50 after it in 2026–27. Living costs: the official Study in Poland site puts a student’s monthly expenses from about PLN 1,500 (around EUR 330), more in Warsaw and Kraków. For a residence permit you must show PLN 1,010 a month for living costs on top of rent.

EU/EEA and Swiss citizens need no visa and only register their stay within 90 days. Everyone else usually needs: 1) A national type D visa for studies, valid for at most one year, applied for by appointment at a Polish consulate with the application form, passport, photo, health insurance, admission letter and proof of funds. Since 1 July 2025, first-year bachelor’s and long-cycle master’s students are refused a visa without the NAWA statement on their school certificate (where required) and a B2 language certificate, and consulates do not help obtain them. NAWA expects the application to be reviewed within 15 days, but appointments can be slow, so apply early. 2) Money: PLN 1,010 a month if you live alone (PLN 823 with family) plus rent, a return ticket worth PLN 2,500 if you come from outside the EU, and your tuition, shown by bank statement or scholarship letter. 3) After arrival and before your visa expires, apply for a temporary residence permit for studies: since 27 April 2026 this is done only online through the MOS portal, your university completes an electronic annex, and you then give fingerprints in person. The stamp duty is PLN 340 and the residence card PLN 100 (PLN 50 reduced for students). The first permit is usually granted for 15 months, later ones for the rest of your studies plus 3 months, up to 3 years. The 2025 law also tightened supervision: universities record foreign students in the POL-on database, which consulates can access, report any visa student who is struck off, and an institution that breaks the rules can be barred from admitting foreigners for up to 5 years.

If you study full time at a Polish university and your stay is based on a national visa for studies or a temporary residence permit for studies, you can work without a separate work permit. The law sets no hour limit, but studying must remain the main purpose of your stay, and full-time work can lead to a refusal when you renew a study permit. Different rules apply to part-time students and holders of other visa types. English-speaking jobs exist in IT and business services, but learning Polish widens your options considerably. After graduation: graduates of full-time studies at a Polish university are exempt from the work-permit requirement and can obtain, once, a 9-month temporary residence permit for graduates to look for work or start a business, provided they apply directly after graduating while still legally resident, with health insurance, an address and sufficient funds. Once you find a job, you can move to a residence and work permit or an EU Blue Card.