Quick Facts
| Tuition Range | About €2,000 – €6,000 per year (English-taught about €3,000) |
|---|---|
| Living Cost | From about PLN 1,500 – PLN 2,000 per month |
| Intakes | October (main), February/March |
| Last Verified Date | November 10, 2026 |
Poland is one of Europe’s best-value study destinations: tuition for international students commonly runs about €2,000–€6,000 a year, living costs start from about PLN 1,500–2,000 a month, and full-time students may work without a work permit. Warsaw, Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań and Gdańsk host large student communities, and the country’s universities are strong in engineering, IT, medicine and business. Government scholarships such as the Banach NAWA programme add a funded route for master’s students from partner countries.
What it costs to study in Poland
Full-time studies in Polish at public universities are free for Polish citizens, EU and EEA citizens and holders of the Polish Card. Other students pay fees set by each university: on average about €2,000 a year for degree studies, generally within a range of about €2,000–€6,000, with English-taught studies averaging about €3,000 a year. MBA programmes cost about €8,000–€12,000 a year, and English-taught medicine costs substantially more. Doctoral schools are tuition-free, and doctoral candidates receive a scholarship. For living costs, the official Study in Poland portal estimates basic student spending from about PLN 1,500–2,000 a month, including a dormitory room of PLN 400–600, groceries of PLN 700–900 and public transport of PLN 50–60. Warsaw and Kraków sit at the higher end, while smaller academic cities such as Rzeszów, Lublin and Toruń are considerably more affordable.
Student visa and residence permit
Students from outside the EU and EEA apply at a Polish consulate for a national Type D visa for study, issued for no longer than one year. Once studying, and before the visa runs out, students apply in Poland for a temporary residence permit through the MOS portal; a first permit for a first-year student is normally granted for 15 months. For the residence permit, monthly money after housing costs must exceed PLN 1,010 for a student without dependants, plus PLN 2,500 for the return journey to a country outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland that does not border Poland. Since 1 July 2025, Indian nationals applying for a student visa also need an additional document from NAWA confirming that their diploma is valid for study in Poland.
Working while you study
Full-time students at an institution approved to admit foreigners, or exempt from approval, may work without a work permit, and the official Study in Poland portal states that there are no restrictions on how much such a student works. Study must remain the main purpose of the stay, and academic progress must be maintained. Common student jobs include IT support, English tutoring, customer service at multinational centres and hospitality work. The minimum hourly rate for the contract type most commonly used for student jobs is PLN 31.40 an hour from 1 January 2026.
Staying on after graduation
Graduates of full-time first-cycle, second-cycle or doctoral studies at a Polish university can apply once for a nine-month temporary residence permit to look for work or start a business, applied for while still legally in Poland. Graduates of full-time studies do not need a work permit to work in Poland, and a job offer allows a move to a temporary residence and work permit. For long-term settlement, graduates typically apply for an EU long-term resident permit after five years of continuous residence, with time spent studying counting at half rate.
Applying
The main intake is October, with February or March starts for some programmes. Applications go directly to the university, and the required documents usually include an application form, a photo, the secondary school certificate with a translation if it is not in Polish or English, and a certificate of language proficiency. Many programmes are taught in English and commonly ask for about IELTS 6.0. Government scholarship programmes include Banach NAWA and Poland My First Choice, both run by NAWA; the Banach programme for 2026 gave master’s students from partner countries PLN 2,500 a month, a tuition waiver at public universities and a PLN 2,500 travel allowance.
Official source: Study in Poland (NAWA)