Among Foreign Students Studying In Poland, Zimbabwe Has The Highest – Report
“This is a result at the European average level, reflecting the tremendous work done by Polish higher education over the last 19 years. When we joined the European Union, there were only 8,800 foreign students studying at Polish universities, giving us an internationalization rate of 0.48% – the lowest in Europe,” explained the foundation.
According to the POL-on system data, there are 102,200 foreign students studying in Poland. According to the Central Statistical Office (GUS), which includes participants of year-long educational exchanges, there are 105,400 foreign students studying in Poland in the academic year 2022/2023, including 48,700 women – an increase of 17.9% compared to the previous year.
The largest group consists of students from Ukraine (48,100 – 45.6% of all foreign students), Belarus (12,000 – 11.4%), and Turkey (3,800 – 3.6%).
According to Professor Arkadiusz Mężyk, the rector of the Silesian University of Technology and the chairman of the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland (KRASP), foreign students bring their talents, scientific passions, and invaluable multicultural atmosphere to the academic landscape of Poland.
According to POL-on data for the academic year 2022/2023, apart from Ukraine, Belarus, and Turkey, the highest number of students came to Poland from Zimbabwe (3,600), India (2,700), Azerbaijan (2,500), Uzbekistan (2,100), China (1,800), Kazakhstan (1,700), and Nigeria (1,600). The number of students from these countries has been steadily increasing for the past four years. On the other hand, the number of students from the USA, Russia, Germany, Vietnam, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Thailand, and Georgia has decreased.
The report indicates that 67% of foreign students in Polish universities come from Europe, 20% from Asia, and 12% from Africa. There are also small numbers of students from North America (a total of 1,064, 151 fewer than the previous year) and South America (a total of 403, including 15 from Argentina and 125 from Brazil).
According to the POL-on report, the most popular fields of study among foreign students are management (19,400), computer science (10,400), and medicine (7,100). 60% of them study in Polish, 37% in English, and 3% in other foreign languages apart from English. Among the foreign students, 94,500 (89.6%) have chosen full-time studies. More than a quarter of all foreign students (31,500) have chosen universities in the Mazowieckie Voivodeship.
Compared to the previous year, the number of students from Ukraine has increased the most, by over 12,000 people. Among Ukrainian students admitted to their first year of studies, 62% are male, including 35% below the age of 18, which means they have completed their secondary education before mandatory military service (Ukrainians finish high school at the age of 17).
–TVP–
