The majority of Ukrainian students who have decided to study in Poland are happy with their choice, reports the Institute of Public Affairs (ISP), a leading Polish think tank and an independent center for policy research and analysis. Close to 30 percent of these students is planning to remain in Poland after graduation.
Ukrainian students constitute the largest group of international students at SWPS University. While psychology is the most popular program of study among them, they also choose other programs, such as journalism, law and English studies, conducted not only in Polish, but also in English. This confirms ISP study results, which indicate that 50 percent of Ukrainian students in Poland speaks fluent Polish and that they tend to opt for social sciences programs, such as journalism, political studies, administration or law.
The ISP report further indicates that Ukrainian students are satisfied with the process of legalization of stay in Poland. Some of them hold the so-called Polish Card (Karta Polaka), granted to individuals of a proven Polish ancestry. Regardless of their roots, the majority of students from Ukraine report feeling welcomed in Poland.
Close to 70 percent of Ukrainian students in Poland combine studies and work. The majority declares the intent to stay in Poland or move to another country, other than Ukraine, after they graduate.
The study was financed the Visegrad Fund and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and was conducted by the Institute of Public Affairs (ISP) in collaboration with Chief Economic Development Officers’ Society (CEDOS), the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (SFPA), and the Central European University (CEU).
Similar studies were conducted in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia.
According to the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are 150,000 Ukrainians living in Poland, including 25,000 students.