A Polish public university charges €2,000 a year for a degree in English. The same degree in London costs ten times that. The difference is not quality. It is who pays agents.
Poland study cost is the second most common question we are asked, and it deserves a plain answer. For a non-EU student in 2026/27, tuition for an English-taught degree at a public university is about €2,000 to €4,800 a year, roughly $2,240 to $5,380, for most subjects at the University of Warsaw and the University of Wrocław. Engineering and computing at Warsaw University of Technology cost more, €4,680 to €13,660 a year. A dormitory room runs PLN 500 to PLN 1,000 a month, about $125 to $250. The residence permit office wants to see PLN 1,010 a month plus your housing, which is PLN 14,620 for a year before rent, about $3,700. Put together, a careful first year is about $7,000 and a comfortable one in Warsaw is $10,000 to $12,000. Our Study in Poland page carries the table figure, $7,000 to $21,000, and we explain below how both ends are built. Dollar figures use $1.12 to the euro and PLN 3.95 to the dollar, the rates across our table, and every number was checked against the university and government pages listed at the end at the end of October 2026.
Key figures, 2026/27
- Tuition, most English-taught public degrees: €2,000 to €4,800 a year, about $2,240 to $5,380.
- Tuition, engineering and computing at Warsaw University of Technology: €4,680 to €13,660 a year, about $5,240 to $15,300.
- Funds to show for the residence permit: PLN 1,010 a month plus housing, plus PLN 2,500 return money. PLN 14,620 for twelve months, about $3,700.
- Dormitory: PLN 500 to PLN 1,000 a month, about $125 to $250. A private room PLN 1,000 to PLN 1,500 in Warsaw.
- After graduation: one nine-month permit to find work or start a business, not renewable.
Tuition: what public universities actually charge
Polish public universities set fees for foreigners by rector’s decision each year, programme by programme, in euros or złoty. Fees differ by subject more than by university, are often a little lower from the second year, and the same word, “Computer Science”, can cost €2,000 at one university and €11,400 at another, so you price the programme, never the country.
The University of Wrocław published its 2026/27 ordinance in February 2026. First-year fees for English-taught programmes are €3,200 in physics and astronomy, €3,850 in chemistry, €3,900 in law, administration and economics and in earth sciences, €4,000 in media studies and in languages, and €4,200 in biotechnology and biological sciences, falling by €200 from year two. Polish-taught programmes for fee-paying foreigners are €2,500 to €3,100.
The University of Warsaw, the country’s largest, prices its programmes for foreigners from €800 a year for archaeology to €4,800 for chemistry under its most recent published ordinance, for 2025/26. Administration is €2,000, economics and econometrics €2,350, biology and biotechnology €4,200 to €4,500, and the business analytics and digital marketing masters €3,000. Expect the 2026/27 figures to sit close to these.
Warsaw University of Technology is the expensive end, and the one that most often surprises families. Its decision 131/2026, dated 3 June 2026, lists per-semester amounts for a standard 30-credit semester. In English, power engineering is €2,340 a semester, aerospace €2,490, environmental engineering €3,000, mechatronics €3,600, civil engineering €5,100, computer science and information systems €5,700 and architecture €6,830. Double those for a year: €4,680 for power engineering, €11,400 for computer science, €13,660 for architecture. The faculty’s own page confirms the computer science figure as a per-semester fee. Families who read “5,700” as the annual price have budgeted for half the degree.
The Jagiellonian University in Kraków publishes a range rather than a list: from PLN 16,000 a year, about $4,050, for environmental protection and management, to €15,500 for medicine in English.
| Programme, English-taught, 2026/27 unless noted | Fee a year | In dollars |
|---|---|---|
| University of Warsaw, administration (2025/26) | €2,000 | $2,240 |
| University of Warsaw, economics (2025/26) | €2,350 | $2,630 |
| University of Wrocław, physics and astronomy | €3,200 | $3,580 |
| University of Wrocław, law, administration and economics | €3,900 | $4,370 |
| Jagiellonian, environmental protection and management | PLN 16,000 | $4,050 |
| University of Wrocław, biotechnology | €4,200 | $4,700 |
| Warsaw University of Technology, power engineering | €4,680 | $5,240 |
| University of Warsaw, chemistry (2025/26) | €4,800 | $5,380 |
| Warsaw University of Technology, mechatronics | €7,200 | $8,100 |
| Warsaw University of Technology, computer science | €11,400 | $12,800 |
| Warsaw University of Technology, architecture | €13,660 | $15,300 |
| Jagiellonian, medicine in English | €15,500 | $17,400 |
Rent and living, city by city
Poland is where the saving is real, and the universities say so in their own figures. The University of Warsaw tells international students that a dormitory place costs PLN 600 to PLN 1,000 a month depending on the building and room, a single room in a shared flat PLN 1,000 to PLN 1,500, and a flat of your own PLN 2,500 to PLN 3,000. Gdańsk University of Technology puts a dormitory room at PLN 500 to PLN 700, a private flat at PLN 1,500 to PLN 2,500, utilities at about PLN 120, and a student monthly transport ticket at PLN 58.50, with total monthly living of PLN 2,000 to PLN 3,500 including accommodation. NAWA, the state agency that runs Study in Poland, says monthly expenses start from around PLN 1,500, about €330, and that Warsaw and Kraków cost more than the rest.
| Monthly, PLN | Warsaw (University of Warsaw) | Gdańsk (Gdańsk Tech) | In dollars |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dormitory room | 600 to 1,000 | 500 to 700 | $125 to $250 |
| Room in a shared flat | 1,000 to 1,500 | not given | $250 to $380 |
| Flat of your own | 2,500 to 3,000 | 1,500 to 2,500 | $380 to $760 |
| Student transport ticket | 50 percent discount | 58.50 | $15 |
| Everything, with accommodation | not given | 2,000 to 3,500 | $510 to $890 |
Two practical points. Dormitory places are not guaranteed; apply the day you accept the offer, because a dorm at PLN 700 against a private room at PLN 1,400 is the largest lever on your year. And the visa file needs written proof of accommodation for the whole visa period showing the rent, so the housing decision comes before the consulate, not after you land.
The money you must show
Poland has two figures and families confuse them. The residence permit offices, which decide your card once you are in Poland, use the statutory income criterion: PLN 1,010 a month for a single student, plus your documented housing cost, plus money for the journey home, PLN 2,500 if you come from outside the EU unless you hold a return ticket. Twelve months is PLN 12,120 plus PLN 2,500, which is PLN 14,620 before rent, about $3,700. Add a dormitory at PLN 700 and the figure the office expects to see is about PLN 23,000, roughly $5,800.
The consulates, which decide the visa, each publish their own checklist, and the monthly figure on it is often lower than the statutory one. The Polish embassy in Abuja, as one labelled example, lists PLN 776 a month plus accommodation plus PLN 2,500, so PLN 9,312 for a year before housing, about $2,360, and accepts a six-month bank statement, a certificate from a bank registered in Poland, a consul-confirmed sponsorship letter from a family member, or a scholarship letter. The New Delhi embassy, as another, publishes no monthly figure at all and asks for travel insurance of at least €30,000 and a decision inside 15 days. Whatever your consulate lists, plan to the residence permit figure, because you will need it within months of arriving. The visa fee is set per consulate, paid in cash in euros at many posts and not refunded on refusal; Abuja charges €200. We compare this bar with 34 other countries in our proof-of-funds article.
A worked first year
Take a non-EU student starting an English-taught bachelor in economics at the University of Warsaw in October 2027, living in a university dormitory.
| Item | Amount | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition, year one (2025/26 fee, expect a small rise) | €2,350 | $2,630 |
| Living including dormitory, PLN 2,500 a month, 12 months | PLN 30,000 | $7,600 |
| National visa fee (set per consulate; Abuja charges €200) | €200 | $225 |
| First year, comfortable, in the capital | about $10,500 |
Now the careful version, which is the lower figure on our table. A €2,000 programme, and living at NAWA’s PLN 1,500 a month in a dormitory in a city such as Lublin, Łódź or Rzeszów: €2,000 is $2,240, PLN 18,000 is $4,560, and the year is about $6,800, which rounds to the $7,000 we publish. The upper figure on the table, $21,000, is computer science at Warsaw University of Technology at €11,400 with Warsaw living at PLN 2,700 a month. Medicine in English sits above that. Flights, the first-month spike, insurance and the residence card fee sit outside all three figures, so hold a margin.
We updated the Poland table entry this week: the old tuition range missed the technical universities, and the old upper figure of $13,000 understated a Warsaw engineering year by a third.
Working during the degree
A full-time student holding a temporary residence permit for study may work without a work permit, and the law sets no hours cap. The regional office can, however, ask whether study is still the main purpose of your stay if you work full time, and refuse the next permit on that basis. A 2026 change narrowed the exemption to students at public universities and at private institutions approved by the interior ministry, so if you are considering a private school, ask it in writing whether its students may still work without a permit. A student job can cover part of the living cost; it will not cover tuition at Warsaw University of Technology. Budget as if you will not work.
After graduation: nine months, once
A graduate of a Polish bachelor, master, postgraduate programme or doctoral school can apply, immediately after graduating and while still legally resident, for a temporary residence permit to look for work or start a business. It is granted once, for nine months, and cannot be extended. You need health insurance, a registered address, and proof that you can support yourself and pay for the journey home. The exit is a residence and work permit once an employer hires you, or a business permit once you have registered a company. Nine months is shorter than Germany’s eighteen or the Netherlands’ twelve, and the degree, an EU degree, travels.
Who Poland suits
Poland suits a family that can show about $5,800 in one account for the permit and fund $7,000 to $12,000 a year, wants a recognised EU degree in English, and is ready to start the paperwork, test, NAWA statement and consular appointment, a full year before the semester. It is harder for a family that needs to arrive within six months of deciding, because the consular appointment is the slowest step, and for anyone who cannot sit a listed English test. The Route Finder puts Poland beside 34 other countries against your actual figures in about four minutes, and our list of the cheapest English-taught countries shows where it ranks.
