Poland's universities in the red as student numbers decline

Photo: Glowimages

According to data from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, some 38 of the 95 institutions supervised by the ministry finished last year with losses.

The combined losses amounted to over 91 million zloty (21.3 million euro), with five institutions taking up over half of this sum.

Figures from the ministry obtained by the Rzeczpospolita daily reveal that income from tuition fees has fallen by 137.5 million zloty (32.2 million zloty) since 2011.

Last year, a study named “The Demographic Tsunami” warned that private institutions - of which there are over three times more than public ones - faced the greatest problem.

The study estimated that owing to demographic shifts, Poland would have 800,000 less prospective students in 2020 than the 1.9 million registered in 2012.

Financial problems have affected some of Poland's most prestigious universities.

The University of Warsaw finished last year with an 8 million zloty loss (1.8 million euro). However, the institution stresses that its problems were chiefly as a result of the ministry cutting off funding for the construction of a new linguistics centre. (nh)