In October, 165 young Ukrainians began studying at the University of Wroclaw. Other larger groups are Belarusians (73) and Russians (12). Ukrainian students form the strongest group also at the Wroclaw University of Economics and Business and the Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences.
For many young Ukrainians, studying in Poland is a long-term project. Parents have to provide them with money for tuition fees and living costs. Before choosing their university and field of studies, many persons learn Polish, attend courses or take part in Polish language summer schools.
Germans aim for a medical diploma, Indians want to become engineers
The non-public WSB University in Wroclaw can boast a large group of foreigners among its students. The number of foreign students at the Medical University systematically grows. In 2017, there were 828 of them; this year, student record books were collected by 898. Their countries of descent, however, do not change: most of foreign students come from Germany and Sweden (medical studies are much more expensive there than in Poland) as well as Ukraine and Belarus. There is also a large group of Saudi Arabians and persons with Canadian passports.
The Wroclaw University of Technology provides regular studies to around 800 foreigners. Apart from young people from behind the Eastern border, Wroclaw is an attractive place to obtain an engineer’s diploma for Indians, Turks or Nigerians.
At the Wroclaw University of Economics and Business with 481 foreign students, the most strongly represented countries (apart from Ukraine and Belarus) include Turkey, India and China. The Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences attracts increasingly more students from Ireland. Apart from them, environmental and agricultural studies at that university are chosen by young people from Norway, Great Britain, America, Canada and China.
The most diversified group of foreigners can be found at the University of Wroclaw. Beside the largest communities of Ukrainians, Belarusians and Russians, citizens from Mongolia, Peru, Brazil, Czech Republic, China, Lithuania or Latvia have been enrolled there this year.
According to specialists in the recruitment of foreign students, the key to success in this field is the quality of student service at universities. ‘The universities need employees who speak Ukrainian, English or Russian,’ stresses Mirosław Lebiedź from the Study in Wroclaw Project Office. The aim of the project being pursued by the Wroclaw Agglomeration Development Agency along with other universities is the promotion of universities from the capital of Lower Silesia. ‘The clear conditions of recruitment and its detailed schedule are important. Replying to an application after one week is unthinkable.’
