Higher education

18 Nov 2010

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Short description of the higher education system

In 2004-2005, Poland had 427 higher education institutions, as opposed to only 97 in 1989. Of these, 126 are public and 301 are private institutions. The post-communist period has thus seen a 30% increase in the number of public institutions and the emergence of a very large number of private, not-for-profit institutions. On average, the private institutions are much smaller, with the public institutions enrolling approximately 70% of all students in 2003-2004 and the private institutions 30%.  

There are many different kinds of higher education institutions in Poland, including universities (Uniwersytety), technical universities (Politechniki) and a range of academies (Akademie) for different fields like agriculture, economics, pedagogy, medicine, theology, physical education and music, art, theatre and film. In addition, there are nautical schools (Szkoly Morskie), military schools (Szkoly Wojskowe) and schools of higher vocational education (Panstwowe Wyzsze Szkoly Zawodowe).

Poland has no strict division between higher professional education and more theoretical, research-oriented higher education. Institutions are simply classified as “academic” if they are authorized to award doctoral degrees in at least one field and “vocational” if they are not. In 2004-2005 there were 181 vocational institutions and the rest were academic.
 

Types of degrees

The Polish higher education system is a two-cycle system. The first cycle, the Dyplom, culminates in the award of the degree of licencjat (licence) after three to three and a half years of study. The entrance requirement is a Swiadectwo Dojrzałości and (possibly) an entrance examination. The degree of inzynier (engineer) is awarded for technical studies. The second cycle leads to the Magister degree (master’s), the duration of which is one and half or two years. Technical and agricultural programmes lead to the degree of Magister Inzynier (Master of Engineering). Arts subjects lead to the Magister Sztuki (Master of Fine Arts), and architecture studies to the Magister Inzynier Architekt (Master of Architecture). 

Doctorate programmes in Poland require a Magister degree and lead to the degree of Doktor (PhD). Candidates for a Doktor degree must pass compulsory exams and successfully write and defend a doctoral thesis before at least two PhD supervisors.
 

Quality assurance and accreditation

The State Accreditation Committee (SAC) was established on 1 January 2002. Broadly, its tasks consist of judging and monitoring the quality of all types of education. The SAC is also responsible for assessing new higher education institutions and new programme tracks and master’s degree programmes. The SAC assumed all the tasks of the former Accreditation Committee of the Vocational Higher Education Institutions, and is responsible for evaluating the establishment of new higher education institutions and of new faculties, disciplines and study programmes at existing institutions and for determining whether individual higher education institutions are authorized to provide particular study programmes. In addition. it is responsible for the quality of education, including for verifying if the criteria for providing particular programmes of study have been fulfilled; this is by far the most important task of the SAC. The SAC’s evaluations are binding upon the minister for Education.
 

Recent reforms

The Polish education system got its current form in 1989. In 1990, the Act on Schools of Higher Education was adopted, granting higher education institutions greater autonomy. This law also made it possible for private education to be offered once more. These private institutions primarily provide three-year higher professional education programmes in management, marketing, economics and business administration.

 

Major trends in the initial years of the 1990s transition period included:

  • extended autonomy of institutions;
  • high rate of growth in the number of institutions;
  • partial but increasing commercialization of both the tertiary education process and institutional operations;
  • changes in the structure of tertiary education;
  • increasingly manifest contradiction between quantitative expansion and the need to maintain quality standards. 

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