Studies in Poland for foreigners (part 3)

Studies in Poland for foreigners (part 3)

Most Polish universities create conditions for foreigners to study. Let us remember, however, that despite the opening of Polish universities to foreigners, continuing to study at them requires the completion of many formalities and involves a number of costs. How exactly do the issues of admission of foreigners to study in Poland look like?

Choosing a university in Poland

Above all – choose a university that interests us and which leads the direction we want to study. So you have to decide whether it will be a medical, economic or maybe a university of technology? After selecting the type, we decide on a specific facility. Specialized search engines – Study Finder and Study in Poland can help. It is worth remembering that in Poland, higher education institutions are divided into public and private – the former are free for Polish citizens. These include, among others, the University of Wroclaw, the University of Bialystok and the Medical University of Lublin.

These universities prepare many proposals for foreigners in their educational offer. For example, the University of Wroclaw has opened the School of Polish Language and Culture for Foreigners, which can help in mastering the Polish language and learn about the customs and culture prevailing in the country. This is to facilitate the everyday life of students from outside Poland. The University of Wroclaw’s website is also available in the English language version. At the University of Wroclaw, several majors are taught in English – for example, business and administration, and biotechnology. In the case of other majors where classes are taught in Polish, a confirmation of language proficiency at a minimum level B1 is required when recruiting. This is confirmed by the certificate of completion of the preparatory course for starting education in Polish in units appointed by the Minister of Science and Higher Education, certificate of Polish language knowledge issued by the State Commission for the Confirmation of the Knowledge of Polish as a Foreign Language and certificate issued by the Polish Language and Culture School for Foreigners of the University of Wroclaw. You may be exempted from the necessity of such confirmation if you are a scholarship holder of the National Academic Exchange Agency (NAWA) and a person holding a permanent residence permit, a Polish Card, a Polish secondary school-leaving certificate or a diploma in Polish as a lecturer.

The University of Bialystok also conducts studies in English and Russian at the first and second level. This will be, for example, the philological specialty of Russian Philology – language communication in business as well as pedagogy and information systems. On their website, the information is available in three languages ​​- Polish, English and Russian. In turn, at the Medical University of Lublin, English Division students were able to participate in a two-semester free Polish language course co-financed by the National Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.

Admission to study in Poland 

In order to be admitted to a Polish university, you need to submit a secondary school-leaving certificate with a sufficiently high score, which will ensure you reach the point threshold of a given university in a given field. Foreigners are required to have a baccalaureate certificate or a legalized or documented apostille, which testifies to the completion of education at the level equal to the Polish school. If we want to start studies at the second level, a bachelor’s degree diploma or its legalized equivalent in Poland is analogically required. This is a universal principle for Polish universities. After the documents are delivered, the recruitment process takes place, where the required points determine the admission of the person to the direction she prefers.

Classes for students who do not come from Poland and are not citizens of the European Union are payable. The costs are different – the chosen direction affects them. The most expensive courses include law and medicine. This should be taken into account when planning the costs of your education. There are, however, some exceptions. The fee does not have to be paid to a foreigner who has been granted a permanent residence permit or a long-term resident of the European Union, a temporary residence permit has been granted for the purpose of family reunification, refugee status granted in the Republic of Poland or temporary protection or subsidiary protection on the territory of the Republic of Poland, holder of a certificate certifying knowledge of Polish as a foreign language, at least at C1 language proficiency level or an important Polish Card, as well as a person who has been issued a decision regarding the recognition of Polish origin. The fees are also not paid by foreigners related to Polish citizens.

Average costs of studies in Poland for foreigners 

What is the cost of studying at different universities and how much does one semester of study or a month in a dormitory cost? Below we have prepared a list of universities, which we discussed in all three parts of the series of articles:

Costs and the most popular courses at selected universities 

Let’s look at three selected universities from the proposed universities, namely the University of Wroclaw, the University of Bialystok and the Medical University in Lublin. How much does it cost to study on them and what are the most popular destinations?

The University of Wroclaw is a general university where one of the many fields of study can be studied – from law, through Polish philology to mathematics. On average, for the semester of study, we will pay 1,000 euro, and for a month in a dormitory – over 100 euro. We must therefore prepare for the fact that for the semester spent at this university, you will need to put together a total of approximately 3,000 euro, or almost 13,000 zlotys. The most popular destinations at this university are, according to reports, psychology, chemistry and forensic toxicology as well as journalism and social communication.

The University of Bialystok is also a university with a general profile, open to eastern neighbors (for example from Ukraine) due to their close neighborhood. For example, English philology, criminology and management are popular here. The cost of a semester at this university is an average of 600 euro of direction fees and about 100 euro of monthly living costs in a dormitory. In total, for half a year of education, we will pay about 1,200 euro there, which is definitely cheaper than the University of Wrocław.

The Medical University of Lublin is the most expensive of the universities mentioned here because of its profile. Medical courses are always costs of several thousand for the year of science, and this is also the case here – the mention of nearly 19 thousand zlotys for one year of attending medical or dental faculties. Dormitories of this university are included in the average fees for this type of service – they cost an average of 500 zlotys per month. In total, medical students incur over 20,000 zlotys a year. Obviously, the most popular are medicine, dentistry and pharmacy.