Cost of living for students in Poland

Studying in Poland is not only about covering your university costs, paying tuition fees and other college-related charges, which have already been described in the previous article on costs of studies in Poland. When you move abroad, you need to prepare your budget for extra costs connected to legalising your stay, accommodation and daily expenses. What should you remember about?

Visa and residence card costs

This applies only to those students who come from the countries whose nationals are obliged to get a visa before coming to Poland. If you come from the European Union, you can skip visa fee charges. For those requiring it - there is no uniform fee, but it should not exceed EUR 70. When applying for a visa, please remember about other costs which are not stated directly - you need to have health insurance of at least EUR 30,000 and be in possession of sufficient funds to cover your entry, stay and departure - which is minimum PLN 543 for each month of studies and PLN 200, 300 or 2,500 for securing a return journey for people from neighbouring countries, EU countries or non-EU countries respectively.

Even if you do not need a visa to come to Poland, bear in mind that every foreigner staying in Poland for a period longer than 3 months has to apply for a temporary residence permit, so for visa holders it is also the next step to plan in their budget. The cost of issuing a temporary residence permit for students is PLN 390 in total.

Accommodation, transport, food and others

Foreign students in Poland need to remember about standard daily expenses, which include flat rent, public transport tickets, food, educational materials and other costs. Aegon's report of study costs in Poland and abroad for 2016/17 presents rough prices regularly paid by all students in Poland. The table below presents the figures in selected cities: Lublin, Warsaw and Wrocław. The low figure stands for costs incurred by the most thrifty students, whereas the higher one shows the top possible spendings in each area.

As you can examine, some of the costs are constant and on a rather similar level (food prices, monthly public transport tickets and educational materials), while others may fluctuate. No bills are required if a student decides to move into a dormitory provided by their university - usually the cheapest solution for frugal students. Please bear in mind that all Polish students enjoy half-price tickets for public city and national transport, as well as discounts in cinemas, theatres and other public facilities.