Three kinds of institutions
A public institution (uczelnia publiczna) is established by the state; a private one (uczelnia niepubliczna) by a natural or legal person outside public administration, with the minister’s permission; and a church institution (uczelnia kościelna) by a church or religious association. The definitions are collected in our Glossary of Polish science.
Figures from the register
According to the POL-on register (as of 6 November 2026), there are 136 public, 190 private and 18 church institutions. Public institutions run 6889 degree programmes, private ones 2324.
Among private institutions, 162 are of the vocational type and 28 of the academic type. There are 104 public institutions of the academic type.
What this means for applicants
The kind of institution does not change the value of the diploma: the professional title awarded is the same. The differences concern, among other things, fees – full-time (stacjonarne) studies at a public institution are, as a rule, free of charge – as well as the range of programmes and the profile of education. Institutions can be filtered by kind in the Universities directory.
Sources
- Ustawa z dnia 20 lipca 2018 r. – Prawo o szkolnictwie wyższym i nauce (Dz.U. 2018 poz. 1668)
- RAD-on – Raporty, analizy, dane o nauce i szkolnictwie wyższym (OPI PIB)
Sources are in Polish. Figures from the register as of 6 November 2026; checked: 2026-11-06.