Opinion

Putting ‘Cheap’ into Uni Degrees

At the beginning of the academic year, the bloggersphere saw a wave of blogs promoting studies abroad. If you have considered going abroad to study, the next question for you is where to go? My answer is Poland.

Don’t speak Polish? Don’t panic! The major universities and institutions in Poland, both public and private, offer a wealth of degree courses completely in English, from Agriculture and Architecture, through Business Studies and Economics, to Languages and Medical Sciences. Their libraries are stocked with all the relevant books, journals and materials in English.

The main reason for doing your degree in Poland is the cost. A year’s study at a British university now costs a whopping £9,000 but in Poland the fees for the entire duration of your course could be as little as £3,017! Juan Martín is from Argentina and is studying English at a university in Poznan. He says he came to Poland for his studies “because it’s cheap, much cheaper than in Argentina.”

The University of Economics in Krakow offers a BSc in International Business and the cost per semester is 2500PLN i.e. £500 (http://nowa.uek.krakow.pl/en/bachelor-s-studies/programs-conducted-in-english/international-business-bsc.html)

At the Lazarski University in Warsaw tuition fees are a little pricier at 4320PLN a semester (£864) – that’s still over three and a half grand cheaper than a semester in the UK. Take a look at what the university has to offer: http://recruitment.lazarski.pl/educational-offer

Sound too good to be true? Where’s the catch? Well, there isn’t one – courses really are this cheap. What’s more, living costs are significantly lower in Poland. According to the University of Edinburgh’s website, on average a student in the UK will need £150 per week for living expenses, which includes food, accommodation and essentials, such as bus fare, but not entertainment.

150 quid is 750 Polish zlotys and that’s enough to pay a whole month’s rent on a super-large single-person en suite room in a hall of residence. Firat Kazanci is doing an MSc in Information and Communication Technologies at the Poznan University of Technology. He lives on campus in a shared room with en-suite bathroom and it costs him only 464PLN a month. That’s £93 and it includes all the bills and utilities– even the internet!

By now you might be thinking to yourself, “but I’ve never heard of anyone going to Poland to study?” Although Poland isn’t yet known as a top destination for international students, it soon will be. The slogan of studyinpoland.pl is “new European educational destination”.

Some universities are even starting to specialise in catering for foreign students. The Lazarski University offers a range of degrees in English at both undergraduate and graduate level. According to Veranika Kaleyeva, Head of International Admissions, the university is “top in terms of foreign student ratio” with almost one quarter of its 3967 student population coming from outside Poland.

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