comparative study on student housing in europe

Case study report for the first phase of the project

Comparative study on student housing in Europe

Linkages between student lifestyles and housing choices

Vision for French development and experiments

Réponse à la consultation de recherche Logement et condition

étudiante en France et dans l’Union Européenne, PUCA March 2007

Case study: Poland

Authors

Joanna Stefanska*, Dominik Owczarek & Anna Wieczorek

Miastosfera Association

* the corresponding author: [email protected]

Warsaw, April-May 2008

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We would like to express our gratitude to Gemius S.A. company

for sharing data for this report.

The case study Team

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. General background information 4

1. Basic facts of the country 4

2. The overall structure of the country’s higher education 5

2.1 Where / in which cities / areas are the universities concentrated? 5

2.2 The most important/largest universities in the country 6

2.3 Total number of undergraduate students (BA + MA) 7

2.4 Total number of international students 7

2.5 International students as submarket 7

II. Student lifestyle 8

1. Typical forms of funding studies 8

2. Targeted support for housing cost 8

3. Age of alumni 9

4. Average age of university students 10

5. Student housing 10

5.1. Outline of the student housing system in Poland 10

5.2. Prices 11

5.3.Types and standard of student houses 11

5.4.Special cases 11

5.5. How many times does a student change housing during this period? 11

5.6. Families and student housing 13

6. The actual choice between housing options 13

III. Policy and provision of student housing 14

1. The main supplier of student housing in the country 14

2. Funding of construction and maintenance of student housing 14

3. Specific good models in building student housing 14

IV. Openings towards the detailed study 15

1. Describe briefly your own “housing career” as a student 15

2. What is typical for student housing in your country? 15

2.1. Choice of housing options 15

2.2. Standard of student housing 15

3. The most difficult / urgent problems that should be resolved 16

4. Good examples or model solutions for providing student housing that should be

disseminated elsewhere in Europe

16

4.1. Jelonki in Warsaw – the iconic student housing area 16

4.2. Average standard 18

4.3. Renting from seniors 18

4.4. Examples of good student houses given by survey respondents 18

V. Sources and interviews 19

VI. Appendices 20

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I. General background information

1. Basic facts of the country

Official name and

flag The Republic of Poland

Population 38 125 479 (2006, Dec) [1]

Biggest cities

(regional capitals)

Name Population of the city

(2007) [1] Province (voivodship)

Warszawa 1 702 139 Mazowieckie

Lodz 760 251 Lodzkie

Krakow 756 267 Malopolskie

Wroclaw 634 630 Dolnoslaskie

Poznan 564 951 Wielkopolskie

Gdansk 456 658 Pomorskie

Szczecin 409 068 Zachodniopomorskie

Bydgoszcz 363 468 Kujawsko-Pomorskie

Lublin 353 483 Lubelskie

Katowice 314 500 Slaskie

Bialystok 294 830 Podlaskie

Kielce 207 188 Swietokrzyskie

Olsztyn 174 941 Warminsko-Mazurskie

Rzeszow 165 578 Podkarpackie

Opole 127 602 Opolskie

Zielona Gora 118 115 Lubuskie

Urbanisation rate 61,3% (2006, Dec) [1]

Official languages

[2]

Polish

Additionally:

Belarusian (in one municipality)

Kashubian (in two municipalities)

Lithuanian (in one municipality)

German (in 16 municipalities)

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2. The overall structure of the country’s higher education

Note on the Polish system of higher education

Basic statistics are available for various institutions of higher education (universities and other

institutions of higher education that offer education equivalent to BA/MA – such as: technical,

agricultural, economic, pedagogic, medical, marine, sport, artistic, theological, military,

administration and other professional higher education) - 448 schools in total. Such schools can

function as public (130 schools) or non-public institutions (318 schools). For the purpose of this

project, data have been reported on the aggregated level. Would it be necessary, more detailed

listings are available for most data from the Central Statistical Office.

2.1 Where / in which cities / areas are the universities concentrated?

By (approximate) number of higher schools per city

(numbers given in brackets are approximate numbers of higher education institutions in each

city, based on Wikipedia [3]). Top 8 results are listed.

Warszawa (56)

Krakow (23)

Lodz (23)

Wroclaw (21)

Katowice (20)

Poznan (18)

Gdansk (12)

By number of students per province

Number of students in public and non-public higher schools by province [4]:

0

50 000

100 000

150 000

200 000

250 000

300 000

350 000

400 000

public higher schools non-public higher schools

For raw numbers, see Appendix 2.

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2.2 The most important/largest universities in the country

The best universities in Poland

Based on a ranking by Perpektywy 1 – the most popular Polish magazine for high school alumni

[5].

1. Uniwersytet Warszawski (University of Warsaw)

2. Uniwersytet Jagielloński (Kraków) (Jagiellonian University in Krakow)

3. Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan)

4. Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie (Warsaw School of Economics)

5. Politechnika Warszawska (Warsaw University of Technology)

6. Uniwersytet Wrocławski (University of Wroclaw)

7. Akademia Górniczo-Hutnicza im. Stanisława Staszica w Krakowie (AGH University of

Science and Technology in Krakow)

8. Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu (Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun)

9. Politechnika Wrocławska (Wroclaw University of Technology)

10. Szkoła Główna Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego w Warszawie (Warsaw University of Life

Sciences)

The largest Polish universities. All Polish universities over 20 000 students [4]

0

10 000

20 000

30 000

40 000

50 000

60 000


1 Criteria of the ranking: prestige in Poland (30%) / research potential (40%) / infrastructure

(20%) / internationalization of studies (10%)

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2.3 Total number of undergraduate students (BA + MA)

(2006, Nov)

1 941 445 [5]

public higher education institutions (2006, Nov) 1 301 132

(67% of total number of students) [5]

private higher education institutions (2006, Nov) 640 313

(33% of total number of students) [5]

2.4 Total number of international students

(2006, Nov)

11 752

(0,6% of total number of students) [5]

public higher education institutions

(2006, Nov)

8 767

(75% of total number of international students) [5]

private higher education institutions

(2006, Nov)

2 985

(25% of total number of international students) [5]

2.5 International students as submarket

Universities decide individually how student housing is offered to foreign students.

For example, at the University of Warsaw, management of accommodation in student housing

for foreign students depends on the form of their studies in Poland. Full-time students are

treated like Polish students and their accommodation is managed by the general Office for

Students Affairs. Short-term students are served by the International Relations Office. In all

cases reservation is made on a "first come – first served” basis. [8]

Erasmus students are served by an officer responsible for Erasmus program and accommodation

for them is reserved by the officer so that everybody who requests a place actually gets it. [6, 8]

Most short-term and Erasmus students seem to take this opportunity and they live in student

housing – they are usually clustered together in international student houses.

Foreign students are generally not entitled to financial support for housing costs nor other forms

of welfare scholarships [9]. However, they may receive some types of scholarships. The Ministry

of Science and Higher Education sets from time to time a quota of scholarships for persons

undergoing education in Poland under international agreements or under decision of the

minister responsible for higher education. Also, some Polish and foreign higher education

institutions have agreements on temporary exchange of students and academic and research

staff. Students can also come to Poland on one of European Union programmes: Socrates

Erasmus, Tempus and Leonardo da Vinci. [10]

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II. Student lifestyle

1. Typical forms of funding studies

Please indicate sources of your income/financial support in the current academic year.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

pension

it varies from one month to another

other sources of income

I don't know/refuse to answer

other grants and scholarships

housing support

loan/credit

welfare support

excellence scholarship

family support

work/employment

The sum of the percentages is not equal to 100 as respondents could give more than one answer.

Data source: gemiusAdHoc May 2008 [13]. For raw numbers see Appendix 5.

Please estimate the percentage of each source of income in your budget

N Minimum Maximum Mean Standard deviation

work/employment 207 0% 98% 49,38% 29,20% family support 214 0% 96% 45,97% 28,14% other sources of income 30 1% 95% 43,45% 28,41% loan/credit 30 0% 90% 29,40% 21,31% other grants and scholarships 16 1% 90% 28,76% 21,11% welfare support 68 0% 80% 25,80% 17,54% excellence scholarship 75 0% 90% 20,65% 16,98% housing support 29 0% 40% 15,35% 8,62%

Data source: gemiusAdHoc May 2008 [13].

2. Targeted support for housing cost [6]

There are two forms of housing-related support for students: they can receive a place in a

university-run student house and/or receive financial support for housing cost. Students can

receive one or both forms of support. The financial support can be spent on paying a room in a

student house or on renting a room/flat on the free market.

Criteria for both forms of support are the same and must be fulfilled jointly:

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i. income per family member is below 572 PLN (ca. 160 EUR) per month

ii. he/she does not live with his/her parents or other family members (does not matter if it is

a student house or a private rental apartment)

iii. his/her permanent place of residence is further than 50 km from the university.

These criteria are never relaxed in case of financial support for housing cost. However, they can

be relaxed in case of applications for places in student houses if there are free places left.

For example, in 2007/2008 the University of Warsaw was prepared to support 1000 students

and there were only 800 applications that fulfilled the criteria.

Number of students receiving housing support in Poland (2006, Nov). Data source: [5]

public

higher

schools

non-

public

higher

schools total

only support for housing cost 1 393 358 1 751

welfare and housing support 9 962 1 776 11 738

food and housing support 2 021 523 2 544

welfare, food and housing support 42 220 5 490 47 710

sport/excellence scholarship and housing support 327 131 458

sport/excellence scholarship, food and housing support 525 207 732

sport/excellence scholarship, welfare and housing support 2 123 534 2 657

sport/excellence scholarship, welfare, food and housing

support 10 397 994 11 391

total number of students receiving housing support 68 968 10 013 78 981

3. Age of alumni

Data from the academic year 2005/2006 [5].

0

20 000

40 000

60 000

80 000

100 000

120 000

23 and

less

24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 and

more

Number of

alumni

Age when finishing studies


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4. Average age of university students

Data from the academic year 2005/2006 [5].

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000

180000

200000

18 and

less

19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 and

more

Number of

students

Age


Data from an on-line survey (N=1321) indicated the average age of 24,31 (SD=6,25). Data source:

gemiusAdHoc May 2008 [13].

5. Student housing

5.1. Outline of the student housing system in Poland (data source for this section: [6])

Student houses are possessed and managed by universities, there are no “private” student

houses.

For example, at the University of Warsaw, each year, each faculty of the university gets a

number of places in student houses. This number is estimated as a function of the number of

students of the given faculty that live outside Warsaw and the number of housing requests in

the previous year. As UW does not have one campus but different faculties and student houses

are dispersed in different quarters of Warsaw, places are assigned to faculties based on

geographical distance between the faculty and the student house. Students have to make

individual requests to their faculties. Priority is given to students who have low income (student

has to prove the income of his/her family in the previous year). See point II.2 for details of

qualification procedure.

The number of places in students houses is not increasing, the supply rate slightly overcomes

the demand. There were 2700 places in 2007/2008 at UW and there were 2500 applications.

This trend has been constant for the last several years. Since there is more places than

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applications, the economic criterion (income) is no longer decisive. Moreover, as suggested by

the administration officer, students who are in need, prefer to find a cheap, illegal rental place

“in town”, rather than pay their stay in student houses.

The choice of living in a student house is more of a lifestyle choice than a need for cheap

housing.

5.2. Prices (data source for this section: [6])

Prices are defined, each year, by the university administration, they vary as a function of the

standard of the house. In 2007/2008, at UW, the most expensive places cost 330 PLN (ca. 95

EUR), the less expensive about 220 PLN (ca 65 EUR).

5.3. Types and standard of student houses (data source for this section: [6])

There is no single rooms or individual bathrooms offered by UW student housing. The great

majority of houses offer double or triple rooms. The criteria of gender and the year of the study

are taken into account in roommate matches.

5.4. Special cases (data source for this section: [6])

However students with special needs can have a single room and individual bathroom.

These are:

- single mother of father with a child;

- disabled person;

- a family (married couple with or without a child).

5.5. How many times does a student change housing during this period?

How many times have you moved during your studies?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

never (I've

been living

in the same

place)

once twice 3 times 4 times 5 times more than 5

times

I don't

remember /

it's hard to

say


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In how many student houses have you lived?

62%

27%

8%3%

one two three more than three Data source: gemiusAdHoc May 2008 [13]. For raw numbers see Appendix 5.

For how many years have you lived in student housing?

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

less than one

year

1 2 3 4 5 6 years


See also section IV.2 for insights from the interview with a former student living in a typical

student house.

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5.6. Families and student housing

Yes, families are allowed to live in university-run student housing. Married couples with or

without children , as well as single mothers and fathers are also entitled to have their own room

(single/double) and an individual bathroom (standard higher than average).

See also section IV.1 for insights from the interview with a former student living in a typical

student house.

6. The actual choice between housing options

Where have you lived during your studies?

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

difficult to say

other

student housing

rented room

own apartment/house

rented apartment (alone/with friends/with a

partner)

with family/relatives

The sum of the percentages is not equal to 100 as respondents could give more than one answer.


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III. Policy and provision of student housing

1. The main supplier of student housing in the country – only universities provide their students

with subsidized housing opportunities.

public higher

schools

non-public

higher schools total

number of student houses 444 55 499

number of beds 137 473 6 491 143 964

number of students accommodated 121 485 5 178 126 663

Data source: [5]

2. Funding of construction and maintenance of student housing

Universities’ costs of renovation of student housing and student cafeteria’s (aggregated data)

public higher

schools

non-public

higher schools total

amount in thousand PLN 142 167,0 750,1 142 719,1

amount in thousand EUR 40 619,1 214,3 40 776,9

Approximate currency exchange rate 1 EUR ≈3,5 PLN

Data source: [5]

There are no new student houses being built at the University of Warsaw. [6]

Data about funding of construction and maintenance of university-run student houses are

unavailable.

3. Specific good models in building student housing

Our sources do not quote any particularly good models of newly built student housing. Most

student houses were built many years ago and they are gradually being renovated.

The system of supply and demand of student housing opportunities seems to be fairly stable.

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IV. Openings towards the detailed study

1. Describe briefly your own “housing career” as a student [7]

‘For the first three years I lived in a student house changing my room twice. (…)I lived in a

student house of the University of Warsaw at Kicki Street that is quite typical for Polish student

housing. I lived there for several years, about four or five, from the very beginning of my studies

till I found a job and bought my own flat where I’m living with my wife right now.’

‘I shared a room with my wife for the last two years in a dormitory opposite to the previous one.

It was a double room in a unit that consisted of two such rooms. The standard was similarly low

as in previous places, the only advantage of it was more space in the room and personal toilet

and shower common for the unit. A few of my colleagues lived in the dormitory also with their

children.’

2. What is typical for student housing in your country? [7]

2.1. Choice of housing options

(…) generally students stay at dormitories no longer than two or three years and then they move

to flats rented in the city. Many of my friends left the dormitory after two or three years because

the difference between prices of dormitory rooms and flats of the similar standard in the city

was not very large at that time. The situation changed a few years ago when the real estate

market boomed resulting in higher rents, so students came back to dormitories.’

‘Moreover there is a great flow of immigrants from smaller towns to Warsaw (…) with a purpose

to stay in the city, so they decide to buy a flat in Warsaw and live there sharing it with some

friends.’

2.2. Standard of student housing

‘At the ground level there were TV-room, laundry, study-room and some storage-rooms. (…)We

used special magnetic cards to get to the dormitory, only inhabitants could access the building.

Guests had to report their visit at the porter’s lodge and leave their id-cards. The main entrance

was also monitored because the neighborhood was quite dangerous.’

‘There were identical three person rooms poorly furnished and badly equipped. Everyone had

his/her own bed - in other rooms you could find also double level beds. Things like: wardrobes,

desks, lamps and fridges were shared – all of this in quite bad condition. We didn’t have much

privacy, but it could be counted also as an advantage because it made everyone to live more

common life and share their problems with others. Inhabitants of the dormitory used to meet in

long corridors and in common facility rooms like the kitchen. There were also common

bathrooms, showers and toilets at the end of the corridor. Construction of the dormitory was

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concentrated around this main corridor that transected five floor building. There were rooms and

facilities on both sides of it.’

‘Generally speaking, social life took place in the corridors, we were taking some blankets and

spending time chatting. (…) I played guitar frequently, sometimes people joined me to play and

sing together. We used to organize small evening parties with music and drinks. One could rent a

small ballroom and have a big party for special occasions like birthdays, name days, New Year

etc. The dormitory I lived in was famous amongst others because of the parties – we always had

great time there.’

‘The main advantage of living in the dormitory was social life. I met many great people that I

stay in touch with till now and I can say that they are my real friends – hopefully it will stay so.’

3. In your opinion, what are the most difficult / urgent problems that should be resolved?

‘The biggest problem to resolve is standard of buildings, facilities and equipment. In my opinion

rooms are overpopulated: three persons per less than 20m2 is definitely to dense! You need

minimum privacy that cannot be disturbed by anyone, even if you are a very sociable individual.

Single rooms that have good communication with other rooms i.e. sharing common bathroom,

toilet and kitchen would be a better solution. Small houses for several students clustered in one

campus with some student activity centers: a cinema, a theater, a social meeting point or a club

would be even better. The problem with commuting to the university would be resolved then as

well. Now most dormitories are spread all over the city.’

‘Dwellers would feel secluded and more attached to their flats, if the rooms were less numerous

and dormitories clustered. That would probably imply more responsibility for the place, more

individual approach - not anonymity like in my dormitory. So I would reduce the number of

people per room. Also change of furniture and equipment is necessary. I would recommend

arrangement of some social space on every floor to avoid use of uncomfortable corridors - now

there is some empty space near staircases that could be used for that purpose. Dormitory

administration could put some armchairs, tables, shelves and arrange the space more

comfortable.’

4. Good examples or model solutions for providing student housing that should be disseminated

elsewhere in Europe

4.1. Jelonki in Warsaw – the iconic student housing area [11, 12]

Jelonki neighbourhood is an iconic student housing area in Northern Warsaw. It was built in

1952, originally as a settlement for Soviet workers who were building the Palace of Science and

Culture. It constituted an independent urban unit, consisting of single family houses for the

management staff and barracks for the labour force as well as a cinema, a canteen, a club, a

library, a post office, a bath house and a boiler-room. It was surrounded by barbed wire fence

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and guarded by armed soldiers. In 1955, after construction of the Palace was completed, the

estate was turned into student housing for nearly 3000 students.

Wooden houses have been colourfully painted, and the area became a student town, with lots

of greenery, charming streets and little houses. After a bus line was established to connect the

area with the city centre, the place soon became famous for its vibrant student nightlife and

small scale cultural events (such as poetry nights etc).

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4.2. Average standard

The average standard of Polish student housing includes provision of the following facilities:

- security system, magnetic card access system

- convenient location near popular faculties

- shared bathrooms and toilets

- sink in each room

- phone landline in each room

- broadband internet connection in each room

- shared study rooms

- computer room

- laundry room with several washing machines

- table tennis and snooker tables

- vending machines with snacks and soft drinks

- small grocery shop

- canteen

- self-service copy room

- several rooms adapted for disabled people

4.3. Renting from seniors

What is interesting for student accommodation in Poland, is the phenomenon of students living

with seniors. In many cases it is a win-win strategy. Seniors can support their (usually very low)

retirement pensions with additional income and they have company (particularly important for

widows and widowers). Students can have fairly cheap accommodation and some guidance and

advice. I personally [JS] know cases of such arrangement that were very rewarding for both

interested parties.

4.4. Examples of good student houses given by survey respondents [13]

1. University campus of AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow (Akademia

Górniczo-Hutnicza im. Stanisława Staszica w Krakowie

2. Military University of Technology in Warsaw (Wojskowa Akademia Techniczna)

3. Student neighbourhood Kortowo in Olsztyn

4. Campus of Warsaw University of Life Sciences (Szkoła Główna Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego w

Warszawie)

5. Student housing of The College of Social and Media Culture – a private school run by an

extremely controversial Catholic priest

6. Student housing of the Business College National-Louis University in Nowy Sącz (Wyższa

Szkoła Biznesu w Nowym Sączu)

7. A student house in Leszno run by a private owner

8. Student housing of Warsaw University of Technology

9. Old town house in post-industrial city of Lodz that was renovated and turned into student

apartments

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V. Sources and interviews

[1] Central Statistical Office (2007). Population. Size and structure by territorial division as of

December 31, 2006. Information and statistical papers. Warszawa: Central Statistical Office, Social

Statistics Division.

[2] Polska [online]. Wikipedia : wolna encyklopedia (in Polish). Retrieved on 2008-04-20 10:38 from

http://pl.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Polska&oldid=12208560a

[3] Szkoły wyższe w Polsce (Higher education in Poland)[online]. Wikipedia : wolna encyklopedia (in

Polish). Retrieved 2008-04-22 17:11 from

http://pl.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Szko%C5%82y_wy%C5%BCsze_w_Polsce&oldid=11489191

[4] Central Statistical Office (2006). Higher education institutions (schools) and their finances.

Information and statistical papers. Warszawa: Central Statistical Office, Social Statistics Division.

[5] Ranking Szkół Wyższych 2007 (Ranking of higher schools in Poland 2007) (2007). Perspektywy.

Retrieved 2008-04-22 18:36 from http://www.perspektywy.pl/index.php?mid=rsw_wyniki_2007#1

[6] University of Warsaw, Bureau of Students Affairs (2008). Interview with an officer of the Bureau

who refused to give her name.

[7] Interview with Michał, 28-years old alumnus of the Sociology Department of the University of

Warsaw who lived in student housing in 2000-2005.

[8] International Relations Office (2008). University of Warsaw. Retrieved 2008-04-29 from

http://www.bwz.uw.edu.pl/eng_version/accommodation.htm

[9] Higher Education Act (2005). Ustawa o Szkolnictwie Wyższym, z dnia 27 lipca 2005, Dz.U. 164 poz.

1365.

[10] Scholarships for foreigners (nd). Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Retrieved 2008-04-29

from http://www.eng.nauka.gov.pl/ms/index.jsp?place=Menu08&news_cat_id=453&layout=2

[11] Majewski, J.S. (2007). Jelonki i Przyjaźń. Retrieved 2008-04-29 from

http://miasta.gazeta.pl/warszawa/1,80371,4120807.html

[12] Osiedle Przyjaźń (Warszawa) [online]. Wikipedia : wolna encyklopedia, 2008-04-12 Retrieved

from:

http://pl.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Osiedle_Przyja%C5%BA%C5%84_%28Warszawa%29&oldi

d=12108822

[13] Gemius (2008). Students’ life conditions and perspectives. On-line gemiusAdHoc survey, May

2008.

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VI. Appendices

Appendix 1. A map of Poland with division into provinces (wojewodztwo)

Appendix 2. Excel file Poland_number of students by province.xls – contains raw numbers used for

the chart.

Appendix 3. Excel file Poland_biggest universities.xls – contains raw numbers used for the chart

showing all Polish universities over 20 000 students. Also, contains a list of the biggest universities in

each province.

Appendix 4. Excel file Poland_age.xls – contains raw numbers used for the chart.

Appendix 5. Excel file Survey results.xls – contains raw numbers from the on-line survey performed

by Gemius SA.