Poland

Basic Information about Poland

Poland is situated in Central Europe. It is bound by the Baltic Sea, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, Slovakia and Ukraine. The country is mostly part of the Great European Plain, while to the south, the plain rises to the Carpathian and Sudeten Mountains. There are 38.2 million inhabitants in the country. The official language is Polish. The capital of the country is Warsaw.

The Higher Education System

At present there are a total of 121 state higher educational institutions and not less than 210 non-state higher educational institutions in Poland, which offer a very wide range of different courses and programmes (private schools of higher education must receive permission to operate from the Ministry of National Education; they acquire a legal status when registered by the Minister of National Education). Among the higher schools, there are both university-type and non-university type (professional education) institutions. State and non-state higher professional (vocational) schools train students in professional specialisations and prepare them for specific professions by including 15-week internships and school practice in the mandatory curriculum.

Graduates of higher professional courses are awarded the title of Bachelor of Arts/Science or Engineer (Bachelor of Engineering) after 3 to 4 years of study. Graduates of university-type higher educational institutions are awarded the title of magister (Master of Arts/Science) or its equivalent after taking standard 5-year MA/MSc level courses or 1.5 to 2-year complementary MA/MSc level courses (intended for holders of the professional title of Bachelor of Arts/Science or Engineer received either at university-type institutions or institutions of higher professional education).

The academic degree of doktor (Ph.D.) is awarded to a person who has passed his/her doctoral examinations and submitted and defended a doctoral dissertation (holding the title of magister or its equivalent is a necessary condition for successively obtaining the doktor’s degree).

Scholarships

Persons interested in studying in Poland are welcome to contact respective Polish higher educational institutions in order to obtain detailed information on the conditions of admission and the courses and programmes which they offer to foreign students.