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Kraków

Poland · Europe

Poland's second technology centre and its cultural capital: a dense student city where global companies run engineering and shared-services offices.

Who this suits, and who it doesn’t

Suits you if you want an EU degree in a student city rather than a business capital, close to home and at a manageable cost. Look elsewhere if you want the country's largest job market, which is Warsaw, or a deep research ecosystem.

The catch, and the way in

The catch

A smaller market than Warsaw, so the ceiling arrives sooner, and Polish matters more here outside the international offices.

The way in

English-taught computer science, business and humanities degrees at moderate tuition, in a city built around students, and an EU degree at the end of it.

Living there

What living here is actually like

Small enough to cross on foot, medieval in the middle and full of students for most of the year, which makes arriving alone much easier than in a capital. Rents and prices sit below Warsaw's, the trip home is short, and the winters and the food will feel familiar to anyone from the region. Winter air quality is the standing local complaint.

How the money works

Costs are lower than Warsaw's on every line: rent, food, transport. Tuition in English-taught programmes at public universities stays moderate, and scholarships exist for strong applicants. Technology salaries are respectable by Polish standards and below Western European ones, which is the trade the whole city represents. The EU degree is the asset you are actually buying.Described in shape rather than figures on purpose: rents and salaries move every year and we cannot keep numbers true, but what is expensive and what quietly eats income stays true for far longer.

The language you actually need

The technology and services offices work in English and English-taught degrees are easy to find, but Kraków is less international than Warsaw, so Polish opens far more of the city, the part-time work and the friendships. It's a shorter climb from Russian than German is.

The work that clusters here

The kinds of work Kraków is a route into, each with what it actually involves, and what the catch is.

Who is named here

Not a ranking and not in order of merit. These are the places a subject is actually studied and taught at in this city, so you have something to search for.

  • Jagiellonian University

    • Humanities & Social Sciences
    • Medicine & Health
    • Law
    • Natural Sciences

    Some English-taught programmes

  • AGH University of Krakow

    • Engineering
    • Computer Science
    • Natural Sciences

    Some English-taught programmes

Language of teaching moves within a cycle, so check it on the university’s own page for your own entry year.