Grants and Loans in Poland | EFG - European Funding Guide

In most European Union countries, grants and loans are viewed as supplementary injections into students’ pockets that are distinctly different from funds they’ve won from scholarships. In many cases due to rising costs, scholarship funds are not sufficient to cover all of a student’s living costs and need to be augmented by grants, loans and even a job during the summer vacations.

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Grants and Loans

General situation in terms of grants and loans

In Poland grants and loans for assisting students in their academic studies are provided by the government-owned bank, universities and credit unions. The terms offered for accessing these financial aid sources are different and students are required to observe and follow different procedures for obtaining and reimbursing them. Loans are also available to non-EU citizens.

Type of grants and loans and providing institutions

Three main types of grants can be identified for academic education in Poland:

The Foundation of Polish Science

The foundation provides grants for students interested in the science field and who wish to conduct research at Polish universities and institutes.

Fulbright grants

A total of 10 Polish government grants are also available in the Arts and Sciences but they attach a condition that the applicant is well versed in the Polish language and an outstanding academic record.

Polish Falcons in America

This organization is an affiliate of the Polish American Congress that offers scholarships to 2 members every year. Its largest grant involves an award of 15.000 € the applicants have been adjudicated by a panel of judges for selecting the outstanding candidate to be awarded the grant.

Three main types of loans for augmenting finances for academic education are also discernible for Poland

Government-owned bank

Loans for university students studying in Poland is offered by the country’s only owned bank. It makes loans available to students are very low interest rates and also makes credit amortizations available to selected students who are in real need of financial support for their studies. The amortization accords students a lower amount to pay at the end of the loan period. It works in consort with 9 other commercial banks to provide preferential credits to students.

Credit union

Sometimes banks in Poland also operate as credit unions also operate as credit unions and makes loans available to students. In Poland, credit unions often form an entity that offers loans at very low interest rates along with other very attractive terms for borrowers. Credit unions offer real help students and families meet their financial commitments.

Universities

Universities across Poland also provide financial assistants in the form of grants especially to post graduate students and research students and may also provide grants for travel allowance for students travelling in from outside the EU.

Availability and conditions for getting a grant or a loan

Grants

The thin line between a scholarship and a grant is that a grant is awarded for spending on a specific purpose such as post graduate studies or research to be undertaken at a particular institute of higher learning in Poland or for travelling expenses. In some cases, an applicant for a grant has to be a very outstanding candidate. The applicant must also show acumen in the Polish language and must possess exceptional skills in the particular research field embarked upon.

Loans

In Poland, loans are easily available from the various credit unions, banks or loan companies that deal in making loans available. By virtue of their trade, loan companies and agencies offer attractive terms for students to borrow from them rather that dwell on conditions of the loan other than the borrower’s ability to pay back the loan.

Local grants and loans for foreign students

In Poland, grants are awarded by the government to international students for undertaking academic studies in the country. There are three main grants made available to foreign students:

Polish government grants not including art and medicine which are awarded under the auspices of the Biuro Uznawalności Wykształcenia i Wymiany Międzynarodowej , also known as the Bureau for Academic Recognition and International Exchange.
Polish government grants for academic studies in art and awarded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage or the Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego, MkiDN.
Polish government grants for academic studies in medicine and are awarded by the Ministerstwo Zdrowia, MZ or the Polish Ministry of Health.

Typical grants and loans in Poland

The typical grants that are available in Poland are offered by the government especially in the field of science, universities themselves and international entities that have working agreements with Poland.