This year's edition of the Perspektywy University Ranking featured the first ever Higher Vocational Schools Ranking, which was created by combining the previous Private University Ranking and the Public Academies of Applied Sciences and State Higher Vocational Schools Perspektywy Ranking. The Ranking Board recognized that after 35 years of the existence of private universities in Poland and 27 years after the establishment of State Higher Vocational Schools (PWSZ), it is high time to evaluate universities not based on their ownership status, but on their quality!

The most important thing is the mission

The Ranking Board decided to take this step, introducing a consolidated Higher Vocational Schools Ranking. It will make easier for high school graduates to choose the optimal path of higher education for them. After all, high school graduates - and generally candidates for studies - are the main recipient of the Perspektywy  University Ranking. The ranking methodology was selected to meet the needs of this group, rewarding the position of graduates on the labor market. It is standard that with each correction of the methodology, the Ranking Board checks first of all to what extent the introduced changes will serve the youth recipients.

As the initiator and manager of the Ranking, I am pleased that its results are also analyzed in detail by the authorities of higher education institutions, representatives of central educational institutions and the media - because this shows the recognition of our work. However, the primary recipients for us are always candidates for studies.

Changing landscape

The first HEIs Ranking was published by Perspektywy in 2000 – when the influence of the baby boom on higher education was reaching its maximum – and consisted of four rankings: academic universities, private universities, art schools and by subject (appropriately grouped).

Every few years, the range of rankings changed slightly, as it was forced by both demographic considerations and the state's decision to introduce a group of state vocational universities into the higher education system – in order to better meet the needs of local labor markets.

Hence, for example, the emergence (in 2003) of a ranking of non-public bachelor's degree colleges, and then its abandonment in 2013. Earlier (in 2005) we started publishing the State Higher Vocational Schools Ranking, which units (created on the basis of the 1997 act) were later subject to several legal and naming corrections and currently function mainly as "academies of applied sciences". Private universities can also take this title, which is often confusing for people outside the higher education system...

As can be seen from the above examples, changes in the set of our rankings are a recurring phenomenon and are always Perspektywy's response to earlier changes in the main groups of Polish universities - some of them are undergoing a kind of dispersion (such as "disappearing" non-public bachelor's colleges), while others are losing their uniformity as a result of various development processes (such as "academic drift" in the case of state higher vocational schools).

The changes introduced in the Ranking this year are intended to make it clearer to high school graduates about the offer and structure of Polish higher education - either it is an academic university or a higher vocational school. What should count is the brand of the higher institution and the strength of its logo, not the ownership status.

However, if this ownership status were important to someone, we have introduced an additional P/N column in the ranking tables next to the names of university. Thanks to this, every reader will easily identify both a public and a non-public university.

Results of the 1st ranking edition

When analysing the ranking tables of the first edition of the Higher Vocational Schools Ranking, one can clearly see that it is not the ownership status of the university that determines its quality - the first two universities are non-public, and the next four are public.

Of course, like any change this also applies to the consolidated Higher Vocational Schools Ranking - it always has both its supporters and critics. We will be happy to hear comments from both in order to improve the next edition of the Ranking in 2026. When criticising, however, let us always remember who is the main recipient of this Ranking. Enjoy reading!

Waldemar Siwiński