Tuition and living costs in Poland

Last reviewed: 2026-08-03

In short: the median published tuition for an English-taught degree in Poland is €2,884 per year, with the middle half of the 628 priced programmes between €1,798 and €4,000. Living alone adds roughly PLN 2,700–5,200 a month depending on the city — less in a dorm. Full breakdown below; the statistics page tracks these numbers weekly.

Two costs matter when planning to study in Poland: tuition (set by each university and programme) and living costs (which depend heavily on the city and your lifestyle). The figures below are for orientation only.

Tuition: what our catalogue shows

Of the programmes in our catalogue with a published or estimated annual tuition, here's how they break down. 589 programmes do not publish a central figure — for those you must check the programme page directly.

Based on 374 programmes with a tuition figure in our catalogue. Tuition is usually charged per year and can differ for EU and non-EU applicants.

Official benchmarks (July 2026)

Poland's official study portal, study.gov.pl, puts the average fee for bachelor's, master's and long-cycle studies at about EUR 2,000 per year, with a wider institutional range of EUR 2,000–6,000 per year. Polish-taught programmes average EUR 2,000–2,500/year for fee-paying international students, while English-taught programmes average around EUR 3,000/year. MBA and executive programmes can reach EUR 8,000–12,000/year, and medical programmes are substantially more (as of July 2026). Individual programme fees can differ a lot from these averages — always check the official programme page.

Other fees to expect (verified July 2026)

• Application / registration fee — set by national regulation: PLN 85 standard, PLN 100 where an entrance exam or interview is required, PLN 150 for artistic aptitude tests such as Architecture (roughly EUR 20–35, per programme, non-refundable).
• Document costs — apostille around PLN 60 per document at the MFA (PLN 20 at a regional court); sworn translations from about PLN 35–50 per standard page.
• Health insurance — the voluntary NFZ scheme for non-EU students costs about PLN 55.80/month (~EUR 13); private student policies run EUR 25–80/month.
• Housing deposit — typically 1–2 months' rent when signing a private lease.
• Student ID (legitymacja) — PLN 22.
• Residence-permit / visa fees — see the visa & residence guide for the current figures.

A realistic first-month setup total, excluding tuition, is roughly EUR 700–1,500 — driven mainly by the housing deposit and how many documents need sworn translation.

Living costs, city by city (2026)

Living costs vary a lot between cities — Warsaw is roughly twice as expensive as Łódź. The monthly budgets below assume a student living alone in a 1-bedroom flat (rent + groceries + transport pass + utilities share + basic spending), based on Numbeo market data accessed 9 July 2026. Sharing a flat or living in a university dormitory (PLN 500–900/month) cuts housing costs by 30–50%, which is how many students land in the EUR 400–700/month range.

Numbeo city data, accessed 9 July 2026 (per-city update dates vary; Wrocław and Lublin figures are from late 2025 and lower-confidence). Groceries run roughly PLN 700–900/month; an inexpensive restaurant meal is PLN 40–45. EUR conversion ≈ PLN 4.3.

Working while you study

Full-time students at Polish universities may work without a separate work permit, during both term time and holidays, with no statutory hour cap (universities recommend ~20 hours/week during term). The 2026 minimum is PLN 31.40 gross/hour on standard student (umowa zlecenie) contracts; typical student jobs pay PLN 23–35/hour, tutoring PLN 40–80/hour. Students under 26 earning below PLN 85,528/year on such contracts pay no income tax and no social contributions — gross equals net. Graduates of full-time programmes can stay on a 9–12-month job-search residence permit after finishing. (Sources: study.gov.pl; EU Immigration Portal — 2026.)

Scholarships and free study

Full-time studies in Polish at public universities are free for EU/EEA and Swiss citizens, Polish Card (Karta Polaka) holders, permanent residents and a few other categories. For fee-paying international students, the main government scholarships are run by NAWA: the Stefan Banach programme (PLN 2,500/month stipend + full tuition waiver at public universities, for master's applicants from 36 partner countries — the 2026 call closed 8 May; the next is expected in spring 2027) and Poland My First Choice (PLN 1,800/month + tuition waiver). Many universities add their own merit-based waivers — check each university's scholarship page. (Verified July 2026; amounts and deadlines change each cycle.)

What a full degree costs, all-in

A worked example for a 3-year English-taught bachelor's at the average EUR 3,000/year tuition: tuition EUR 9,000 + living at EUR 600/month × 36 months EUR 21,600 + one-time setup ≈ EUR 1,200 = roughly EUR 31,800 total. Choosing a cheaper city, sharing a flat or winning a scholarship brings it well below EUR 28,000. For comparison: Dutch non-EU bachelor tuition alone runs EUR 9,000–20,000/year, and "tuition-free" Germany requires a blocked account of EUR 11,904/year with living costs of EUR 850–1,200/month — over three years Poland is usually cheaper overall. (Approximate, July 2026.)

Browse by budget

You can filter the catalogue by tuition band, including free / very low tuition and under €2,000 per year, on the programmes page.

For a deeper breakdown of real costs and scholarship options, see real costs & scholarships at degree.edu.pl — our sister site.