Polish higher education

I learned a bit more about the Polish higher education system this week.  I had an appointment with the Vice Rector of UMCS, and  I was invited to lunch with a colleague who serves in the administration of a private college in town, as well as on the UMCS faculty.  At one point in the conversation with the Rector, I asked about whether schools in Poland had certain specialties for which they were well known.  (ie how do Polish schools distinguish themselves from each other?)  His answer seemed to indicate that they don't really.  They appear to try to do everything well and be in the top national rankings in all areas.  (Like all Rectors, he proceeded to tell me all the top ranking departments at UMCS - Political Science is one of them.)  The system is coming under extreme demographic pressure because the number of students seeking a college degree is expected to shrink by 30% in the next 3-4 years.  He said he expected that 100 of 400 Polish higher education institutes to close down in that time.  There was some consideration about deliberately opening up and recruiting Ukranian students in the future because a degree from an institution in an EU country (Poland) is accredited throughout the EU.  This would be very appealing to Ukranian students for future employment because Ukraine is not in the EU.

My department colleague  talked about the heavy regulations by the government regarding degree and program requirements.  It is very difficult to develop and approve new classes and find ways to fit them into the curriculum.  Even private schools must comply with the mandates (for quality assurance purposes), so its hard for them to do new creative things even if there is a demand for it.  At her school they try to work more creatively with how classes are taught even if they can't influence the subject matter or degree requirements.

There is much discussion about higher education reform in the parliament, so the assessment of both of these people was that the system is going to continue to change significantly in the future, but its still a very challenging environment.