Equity in an Educational Boom: lessons from the expansion and marketisation of tertiary schooling in Poland

Abstract

This article shows how the probability of enrolment in tertiary schools has evolved for different social groups in Poland during the period of the educational boom. It also analyses how the socio‐economic status influences the choices between full‐time and part‐time studies (the latter being of relatively low quality), and the probability of admission to subsidised, free programmes versus programmes with tuition fees. Between 1994 and 2008, Poland improved the participation of students with a low socio‐economic status in university education. However, if we look at the change in the ratios of enrolment probabilities for different layers of the social strata, we find that the improvement refers to those with a low family educational background who live in small cities, but not to those from low income families. Further investigation shows that the policy makers should focus not only on ensuring equal access to tertiary education for all social strata, but on allowing the unprivileged groups access to education of acceptable quality.

Does income inequality hamper human capital accumulation in OECD countries?

“…The Polish example shows that, despite the large availability of public education offered, there are still significant constraints for investments in human capital among the poor. This is documented by, among others, educational horizontal inequality (indicating the low share of students from poor families on prestigious educational paths) and evidence of the impact of the financial situation of a household on educational achievements (Herbst and Rok, 2014;Czarnecki, 2015;Rószkiewicz and Saczuk, 2015).…”

Who gets a job after graduation? Factors affecting the early career employment chances of higher education graduates in Poland

“…It is argued that students of part-time programmes receive a lower quality education (Herbst and Rok, 2011). There are also concerns regarding equity, as students from privileged backgrounds are more likely to enrol in a state-subsidised programme at a public institution (Herbst and Rok, 2014). On the other hand, the emergence of private higher education institutions gave young people from rural areas and smaller towns access to higher education (Kotowska, Chłoń-Domińczak and Saczuk, 2014).…”

Making better use of skills and migration in Poland

“…Thanks to the emergence of private universities all over the country, the enrolment rate for students from small towns with less than 20 000 inhabitants has increased from 5% to 60%. Yet, although enrolment rates have increased for all income groups, lower family income still decreases the likelihood of attending university (Herbst and Rok, 2014), and students from small towns whose parents have no tertiary education are much more likely to enrol in part-time feebased programmes (Lewandowski and Magda, 2014). This means that students from weaker socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely to have to pay fees for tertiary education that will often be of lower quality than at public universities.…”