Who studies for free, and who pays

Poland’s public universities do not charge tuition for full-time programmes taught in Polish, but only for some students. The official study.gov.pl portal says these programmes are free for Polish students and for foreigners who start studies “on terms applicable to Polish citizens”, which includes EU and EEA citizens and holders of the Polish Charter (Karta Polaka). The same portal says you can also qualify if you have a permit to settle in Poland, refugee status, temporary protection, an EU long-term resident permit or the status of a migrant worker or a member of an EU or EEA migrant worker’s family. Free study also requires a sound knowledge of Polish and taking part in the university’s recruitment procedure, so it is not a route into an English-taught degree. If none of these apply to you, assume you will pay.

For everyone else, study.gov.pl gives average fees of EUR 2,000 a year for bachelor’s, master’s and long-cycle degrees, EUR 3,000 for postgraduate studies and EUR 2,000 for a one-year Polish preparatory course. It says fees generally range from EUR 2,000 to 6,000 a year depending on the institution and programme, with MBA programmes at roughly EUR 8,000 to 12,000. Each institution sets its own fee, so confirm the exact figure on your university’s admissions page. There is one notable exception: doctoral colleges are tuition-free and give a scholarship to every full-time doctoral candidate.

The government scholarship that matters most: Banach

If you are from a developing country and want a master’s, the Banach NAWA Programme is the one to look at first. NAWA is Poland’s National Agency for Academic Exchange. Banach is aimed at citizens of 36 countries covered by Polish Aid, including Albania, Brazil, India, Mexico, Ukraine and Vietnam. NAWA’s programme page says the award includes:

  • a monthly scholarship of PLN 2,500
  • exemption from tuition fees at public universities
  • a travel allowance of PLN 2,500
  • a one-year NAWA preparatory course for those who choose the Polish-language path, and a Polish language and culture course for the English-language path

The 2026 call was for second-cycle (master’s) studies starting in 2026/2027, and it closed on 8 May 2026 at 3:00 p.m. CEST, or earlier if the application limit for a country group was reached. NAWA expected results by 31 July 2026. To apply you had to be a citizen of an eligible country, hold a first-cycle diploma obtained in 2024 or later (or by 15 July 2026), not already hold a master’s degree, show at least B2 English (or B2 or B1 Polish for the Polish path) and submit a short self-presentation video. NAWA has published no later call, so watch its page rather than assuming the dates will repeat. Our Banach NAWA entry tracks the programme.

Do not describe this to yourself as fully funded until you have checked the numbers against real costs in your chosen city. The stipend and travel allowance are fixed amounts, and NAWA’s page does not say they cover accommodation in full.

Other NAWA programmes, and one that has closed

Poland My First Choice is a separate NAWA programme, but its country list is made up of mostly wealthier countries, among them Australia, Germany, Japan and the United States, so most readers of this site will not be eligible. It offers a scholarship for the statutory length of a full-time master’s at academic institutions, public and non-public, plus a tuition exemption at public universities. NAWA states plainly that it does not act as an intermediary in admission, so you must apply to the university yourself as well.

The gen. Anders Programme is for young people of Polish origin who hold the Pole’s Card or dual Polish citizenship and finished secondary school outside Poland. Studies must be in Polish and may be preceded by a preparatory year. NAWA’s foreign-student menu also lists Polish-language programmes such as Polonista and summer courses.

NAWA lists the Ignacy Lukasiewicz Scholarship Programme under closed programmes. It offered tuition-free master’s study in engineering, agricultural and natural sciences to citizens of countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, India, Tanzania, Uganda and the Philippines. If a third-party site advertises it as open, check NAWA directly before you spend time on it.

The visa and the permit are two different steps

You need two documents over the course of a degree, and it helps to know this before you arrive.

Step one: the national student visa. Jagiellonian University’s guidance describes a national visa with the annotation “Student”, valid for between 3 months and 1 year, which must be applied for before you arrive. It also allows travel in the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. A visa is needed only for citizens of countries on Poland’s list of countries whose citizens need one, so check whether yours is.

Step two: the temporary residence permit for studies. Because the visa lasts a year at most, most degree students then apply for a residence permit from the regional governor’s office (the voivode). The university guidance says you can apply no later than the last day of your legal stay and that examination “may take several months”. Apply early, not in your last week. Your stay remains legal while you wait, confirmed by an electronic certificate of application submission.

Proof of funds and health insurance

Both the visa and the permit require you to show you can support yourself and pay for a return journey. The Polish consulate in Armenia’s page says the monthly figure, after deducting your housing costs, must be higher than the income that entitles a person to social assistance cash benefits, and that a document confirming a scholarship award is accepted as evidence. This guide gives no amounts: the figures on that page date from 2020, and other official pages differ, so take the current figure from the consulate you are applying to. Our guide to proof of funds for student visas covers how to document this in general.

For health cover, the Wielkopolska voivodeship office says you can apply to the National Health Fund (NFZ) for voluntary insurance, which needs a document confirming legal stay and full-time student status, or use private insurance that covers all medical costs in Poland. That answer is dated 2021, so confirm the current rule with your university. Our health insurance guide explains what visa-compliant cover usually looks like.

Working while you study: check your university first

Poland has long allowed full-time foreign students to work without a work permit, which is why part-time work has been a realistic part of many students’ budgets. The rules tightened on 1 July 2026. According to the law firm Legmar, writing on 9 September 2026 and citing the National Labour Inspectorate, the exemption now covers only full-time students at a public academic university or a university on the approved list kept by the Ministry of Interior and Administration (MSWiA). A student ID alone is no longer enough, and part-time students are not covered. Public academic universities are, as a rule, not subject to the approval requirement, so the question matters mainly for private universities. MSWiA publishes the list of approved institutions (the version we saw was dated 17 July 2026). Before you accept a place at a private university, ask its international office in writing whether it is on the list. We relied on law-firm summaries for this change, not the statute itself, so check the Public Employment Service or the Labour Inspectorate before you plan around a job.

Working full-time can cause a different problem. The Poznań office warns that if you work full-time and earn your living that way, it “may result in a negative decision” on a permit for the purpose of studies, and suggests applying for a residence and work permit instead. Keep work clearly secondary to your degree.

A sensible order of operations

  1. Check whether you qualify to study on the same terms as Polish citizens. If you do, a Polish-taught degree at a public university costs you no tuition.
  2. If not, check the Banach and Poland My First Choice country lists against your citizenship, and note that doctoral candidates in doctoral colleges are funded.
  3. Shortlist programmes and confirm the fee on each university’s own page.
  4. Apply to the university and, separately, to any NAWA programme you are eligible for.
  5. Once admitted, check whether you need a visa, book a consulate appointment and gather funds evidence and insurance.
  6. In your first year, apply for the temporary residence permit well before your visa expires.

For a wider comparison with other countries, see our guide to funding a master’s in Europe.