Master's Degree in Poland for African Students

What a master’s degree in Poland looks like

The Polish second-cycle degree is the Magister / magister inżynier (studia drugiego stopnia): magister in most fields, magister inżynier on an engineering first cycle.

The statutory credit minimum is 90 ECTS across three to five semesters, so published lengths run 1.5 to 2.5 years. Two years is the mainstream; three-semester programmes are common in the humanities.

Teaching starts in October, February. October is the main intake; February exists at a minority of universities and closes its applications the previous November.

Medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, law and veterinary science are different: they run as jednolite studia magisterskie, nine to twelve semesters entered straight from a school-leaving certificate.

English-taught master’s are normal at this level rather than exceptional. Poland recognises 352 higher-education institutions; the University of Warsaw lists 30 English-taught master’s, Warsaw University of Technology 24 and AGH 21. A Polish master’s is a full second-cycle degree and gives direct access to a doctoral school.

Is an African bachelor’s accepted?

Yes, and the rule is clear. Article 326 ust. 2 asks one question: does your diploma entitle you to continue to second-cycle study in the country that issued it? A three-year Nigerian, Ghanaian, Kenyan or South African bachelor’s that opens a master’s at home opens one in Poland. A Nigerian or Ghanaian HND does not qualify.

What you need is a written statement from the Director of NAWA confirming that entitlement. Nostrification, the full equivalence procedure, is not required to start second-cycle studies, and demanding it is a common agent error.

There is no national minimum grade. Universities rank candidates on the bachelor’s average grade combined with an entrance exam or qualifying interview; AGH, Wrocław Tech, Poznań University of Technology and SGH publish no GPA floor. B2 in the language of instruction is the one hard threshold.

Universities apply the rule themselves, and they differ. The University of Warsaw and Warsaw University of Technology both require the NAWA statement before admission, and Warsaw University of Technology adds that your bachelor’s must be in a similar field. Gdańsk University of Technology publishes no minimum CGPA. The University of Łódź is the strict outlier: it wants the degree nostrified before enrolment.

Your diploma and transcript need an apostille — or consular legalisation outside the Hague Convention — before any of this starts.

How much a master’s costs in Poland

Public universities charge non-EU master’s students €2,500–7,500 per year, and the spread is wide. AGH bills €1,650–3,500 per semester, Warsaw University of Technology €3,600–16,000 per year and the University of Warsaw €1,000–18,000 per year, depending on programme. Most bill per semester, not per year.

Private universities run €4,000–8,000 per year. Lazarski sits inside that band at €5,520–5,760 per year; Kozminski sits well above it at PLN 38,800–42,800 per year.

There is no recurring semester registration fee. You pay the opłata rekrutacyjna once, an admission-processing fee of PLN 85–100 per application.

Living costs decide the budget. Nationally they run PLN 1,500–2,500 per month. Warsaw is the most expensive at PLN 2,500–4,500 per month and Kraków next at PLN 2,300–3,900 per month; Katowice at PLN 1,600–2,600 per month and Toruń at PLN 1,500–2,500 per month are the cheap end. NFZ health insurance adds PLN 670 per year.

Your real year is tuition plus twelve months of city living costs plus insurance, and in Warsaw the living side alone can cost more than the tuition. Full breakdown: cost of studying in Poland.

English requirements for a master’s

Poland sets no statutory national language floor in law. The working figure at master’s level is IELTS 6, a common university minimum rather than a rule you can cite at a consulate. What binds is B2 in the language of instruction, documented.

Most universities ask below that figure. AGH, Jagiellonian, the University of Warsaw, Gdańsk University of Technology, Wrocław, SGH, Adam Mickiewicz, Nicolaus Copernicus and Silesia accept IELTS 5.5. Warsaw University of Technology and the University of Łódź ask 6; Kozminski asks 6.5.

A medium-of-instruction letter replaces the test at Adam Mickiewicz, Gdańsk University of Technology, Jagiellonian, Łódź and the University of Warsaw; AGH, SGH, Lazarski and Nicolaus Copernicus do not accept one. Silesia, Wrocław and Warsaw University of Technology decide case by case, so ask before you book a test. More routes: studying in Poland without IELTS.

Universities to look at for a master’s

University of Warsaw, Warsaw. Ranked #271 (QS 2026), the highest-placed institution in our Polish list, with 30 English-taught master’s. Fees run €1,000–18,000 per year, so the programme matters more than the university.

Jagiellonian University, Kraków. #329 (QS 2027), founded 1364, English-taught across its master’s offer at €4,500–5,000 per year.

Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw. #504 (QS 2027) with 24 English master’s at €3,600–16,000 per year, billed per semester. It asks IELTS 6 and a matching subject background.

AGH University of Kraków, Kraków. Engineering-led, with 21 English master’s at €1,650–3,500 per semester. Most MSc programmes require a licencjat or an inżynier degree.

Gdańsk University of Technology, Gdańsk. 15 English master’s at PLN 18,000–21,500 per year, no published minimum CGPA, city costs of PLN 2,000–3,200 per month.

University of Wrocław, Wrocław. 851–900 (QS 2027) with 15 English master’s at €3,000–4,200 per year; the second year is priced below the first.

SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Warsaw. Economics and finance only: 5 English master’s at €4,800–6,200 per year.

University of Łódź, Łódź. 8 English master’s at €2,000–9,000 per year, most programmes at the bottom of that range, with city living costs of PLN 1,600–2,600 per month. It asks IELTS 6 and wants the bachelor’s nostrified before enrolment.

Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń. 8 English master’s at PLN 6,000–15,600 per year, in the cheapest city here. Full list: Polish universities for African students.

Scholarships for a master’s

Two routes fund master’s study, and only one is open to most of our countries.

Banach NAWA is built for second-cycle study: full tuition plus PLN 2,500 per month for up to two years, with a tuition-free Polish course attached. Of our nine origins only Nigeria and Kenya are eligible. The last call opened 13 April 2026, closed 8 May 2026 and gave results on 31 July 2026; the 2027/28 call is not yet published. Your bachelor’s must date from 2024 or later, and you need admission first.

Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters has no nationality restriction, so all nine countries are eligible. It covers tuition in full and pays €1,400 per month throughout; you apply to the consortium, not to Poland, and need no admission letter first.

University fee waivers are not published by the institutions in this dataset — in Poland the low public fee is the discount. See scholarships for study in Poland.

How to apply for a master’s in Poland

1. Start the NAWA statement first. Ask NAWA for the written statement confirming your bachelor’s entitles you to second-cycle study at home. It holds up more files than anything else does.
2. Legalise and translate. Get the diploma and transcript apostilled, or consular-legalised outside the Hague Convention, then translated.
3. Shortlist by fee and English band. There is no national portal: each university runs its own admission system, usually an IRK instance on its own subdomain. NAWA’s recognition portal is syrena.nawa.gov.pl.
4. Apply in each system separately, paying the admission-processing fee of PLN 85–100 per application.
5. Work to the university’s date, not the national one. The national position is Rolling; in practice the pattern is Mid-to-late July 2027 for the October 2027 start; mid-November 2026 for the February 2027 intake. In the 2026/27 cycle: AGH 17 July 2026, Warsaw University of Technology 21 July 2026, Wrocław Tech 21 July 2026, SGH 23 July 2026; Wrocław Tech's February intake closed 13 November 2026.
6. Sit the entrance exam or interview where the programme runs one, and submit your B2 document.
7. Accept the offer and pay the first instalment, then arrange accommodation and NFZ cover at PLN 55.80 per month.
8. Apply for the national visa. Budget €200, 2 to 8 weeks, and proof of funds of PLN 17,650: see Poland student visa requirements.

After the master’s

A Polish master’s earns a Temporary residence permit for graduates (job search) of 9 months, granted once, costing PLN 440 for stamp duty and the residence card together. Since January 2026 it must be filed through the online MOS portal; paper filing has ended.

Work rights during the degree are good: No cap for full-time students at qualifying institutions, with no work permit needed and a minimum wage of PLN 4,806 per month. Since December 2025 that exemption covers only public universities and MSWiA-listed institutions, so check the register before enrolling privately.

A doctoral school is the other exit: tuition is free and every candidate receives a statutory stipend of PLN 3,570.50–5,500.50 per month. See doing a PhD in Poland.