Poland: number of foreign students 2021

In the academic year 2021/2022, over 89 thousand foreigners studied at universities in Poland. The number of foreigners studying in Poland increased by almost 94 percent in the observed period.

Higher education

More than 1.2 million students studied at universities in the 2020/21 academic year, 1.2 percent more than the previous year. In addition, there was a three percent increase in the number of foreign students compared to the last academic year. The most numerous group were students from eastern countries, mainly from Ukraine and Belarus. The medical faculty was the most popular among international students. The number of university graduates from the 2019/20 academic year amounted to 293.4 thousand and was 6.5 percent lower than in the 2018/19 academic year. The fields of business, administration, and law recorded the highest number of graduates at private higher education institutions. At public universities, most graduates majored in technology, industry, and construction. The universities employed over 88 thousand academic teachers. There were nearly 14 students per teacher. In 2020, the total revenue in universities amounted to 27.4 billion zloty, 2.8 percent less than in the previous year.

Popular fields of study

Students in Poland can choose to study at private and public universities. Most applications in 2021 for part-time studies were submitted to Wyższa Szkoła Bankowa in Poznań. In the case of full-time studies, the most popular was SWPS University of Humanities and Social Sciences in Warsaw. Technical universities recorded the most significant number of candidates. More than four people per place applied to these universities in 2021, with the highest number of applicants to Gdańsk University of Technology - more than eight people per place. In 2020, the most significant number of students studied business, administration, and law. However, the engineering of nanostructures had the highest number of applicants in 2021 - nearly 28 people per place.