Poland

Country: Poland

Full-time Polish-taught programmes at public universities are free for EU/EEA and Swiss citizens, while English-taught ones usually cost €2,000–6,000 a year. Poland has 344 higher education institutions, and full-time non-EU/EEA students with a student visa or temporary residence permit can work without a permit. Find out how admission works and what a student typically spends a month (PLN 1,500–2,000).

EU/EEA and Swiss citizens can work without any permit. According to NAWA, full-time students from outside the EU/EEA who hold a student visa or a temporary residence permit don't need a work permit either, and there is no limit on working hours. The same applies after you graduate from a full-time programme in Poland.

Two things are worth knowing:

if you are under 26 and work on a contract of mandate (umowa zlecenie) while you have student status, you don't pay social security or health insurance contributions; the exemption does not apply if you also have an employment contract with the same employer, and you must tell the employer when you finish your studies or turn 26,
tax relief for young people – if you are under 26 and a Polish tax resident, income from employment contracts, contracts of mandate, graduate internships and apprenticeships is exempt from income tax (PIT) up to PLN 85,528 a year.

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Sources: European Commission – Study in Europe (education.ec.europa.eu/study-in-europe), Eurostat, official national study and residence portals and authorities, Eurodesk, enic-naric.net, studentnews.eu. As of September 2026.

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