Study in Poland in 2026: universities, low tuition, student visa, work rules and the Banach scholarship
Last reviewed 2026-10-26. Rules, fees and processing times in this area change often. Check the official source before you act, and tell us if something looks out of date.
Poland has some of the lowest tuition in the EU for English-taught degrees, a large number of Indian medical students and a funded scholarship open to Indian graduates. Student rules are partly national and partly set by each university, and several official figures could not be confirmed, so they are flagged.
Universities
QS World University Rankings 2026 (from a Polish rectors' office table compiled from the QS site): University of Warsaw 271, Jagiellonian University 303, Warsaw University of Technology 487, Adam Mickiewicz University 741 to 750, AGH Krakow 801 to 850, Gdansk University of Technology 801 to 850 and University of Wroclaw 801 to 850. Twenty Polish universities are ranked in total.
Costs
- Tuition (study.eu): about EUR 1,500 to 5,000 a year for bachelor's and EUR 2,000 to 6,000 for master's, with some universities lower. Free study in Polish is not available to Indian students by default. Medicine and dentistry cost much more, and we found no sourced figure.
- Living costs: the official Study in Poland site gives PLN 1,500 to 2,000 a month (about EUR 330 to 430), with a dorm at PLN 400 to 600. Another site gives EUR 450 to 1,000. Big cities cost more.
Visa and residence permit
- A national (type D) visa is used for study, and for longer programmes you apply for a temporary residence permit after arrival. The first permit is reported at 15 months, later up to three years.
- A commercial checklist gives a visa fee of EUR 80 and lists documents: a passport valid at least six months, the admission letter, six months of bank statements, insurance with EUR 30,000 cover, accommodation proof and a cover letter. The fee for Indian applicants was not confirmed on an official page.
- Funds formulas differ: a 2021 Warsaw presentation uses PLN 701 a month after rent and tuition, while Gdansk's welcome centre uses PLN 1,010 a month for 15 months plus accommodation and return travel. The permit fee of PLN 340 comes from the 2021 presentation, so check the current amount.
- Documents often need a sworn Polish translation, and some sources say to register your address within 30 days of arrival.
- Gdansk's welcome centre says decisions on permit applications can take around a year in some offices, but you can keep working while the application is pending.
Working while you study
Full-time students with a student residence permit can generally work without a separate work permit. One commercial source says 20 hours a week in term and full-time in holidays, but we could not confirm a statutory cap on an official page. Part-time and some postgraduate students may need a work permit.
After graduation
The Poznan Voivodeship Office says graduates can get a permit of 9 months to look for a job, once only, applied for by the last day of legal stay. Full-time graduates can work without a work permit. Rule changes effective 1 June 2025 stop holders of a visa issued for study from applying for a residence permit for work, according to a law-firm summary.
Banach scholarship (NAWA)
The 2026 call, for study starting October 2026, was open to India. It covered a master's or a one-year preparatory course for graduates who finished a first-cycle degree no earlier than 2024, with a stipend of PLN 2,500 a month, tuition exemption at public universities and a travel allowance. The deadline was 8 May 2026 and results were due by 31 July 2026. English at B2 was required for English-taught programmes. We could not confirm the 2027 call, so watch the NAWA website.
Intakes and language
The winter semester starts in October, and a summer semester starts in February, though we did not find an official calendar. Each university sets its own IELTS or TOEFL rule.
MBBS in Poland
Indian students can study medicine in English in Poland. A commercial source says the NMC requires a course of at least 54 months in English plus a 12-month internship at the same institution, then a screening test and an Indian internship. We did not read the NMC rule itself. See our MBBS abroad guide and check the National Medical Commission before paying a deposit.
Related guides
Study in Ireland, the Netherlands, France or Italy, scholarships for Indian students and post-study work visas compared.
Sources
- CRASP: QS World University Rankings 2026, Polish universities
- Study in Poland: cost of living
- Study.eu: Poland tuition fees and cost of living
- NAWA: Banach 2026 call for applications
- Poznan Voivodeship Office: university graduates
- University of Gdansk Welcome Centre: residence permit
- University of Warsaw: students' legalisation procedures (2021)
- EIG: Poland's Act on eliminating irregularities
- EduGoAbroad: Poland student visa checklist 2026
- Leap Scholar: NMC requirements after MBBS in Poland
Figures were gathered in October 2026 from government, university and education-site pages. Official immigration pages were often unreachable, many figures come from a single secondary source, and where sources disagreed we say so. Fees, work-hour limits and visa rules change often, so confirm everything on the official site and with your university before you apply. Visa Ray is a rule-based reference tool, not a law firm. You can run a free assessment on Visa Ray for your own profile.
