Higher education

Olsztyn is an academic city, hosting 3 higher education schools (including the University of Warmia and Mazury) and 2 branches of higher education schools from outside the region. In 2018, per 10 thousand inhabitants 1.2 thousand were students and 0.4 thousand were graduates, which is four times the national average.

Olsztyn is one of the leading academic centres in the north-east Poland, which attracts ambitious young people from the region and the neighbouring voivodeships. There are 3 higher education schools in Olsztyn: the University of Warmia and Mazury, the Olsztyn University, the Prof. Tadeusz Kotarbiński Higher School of Information Technology and Management and 2 branches of higher education schools from outside the region: the Janusz Korczak Higher School of Pedagogy in Warsaw and the School of Higher Education in Gdańsk. 20.1 thousand students attended these schools in the academic year 2017/2018 and 6.1 thousand of them became graduates.

According to data gathered by the Central Statistics Office (GUS), over the last 5 years (2014-2018) more than 37 thousand students graduated from all the higher education schools in Olsztyn (77.1% of all graduates of higher education studies in the region).

Taking into consideration the Olsztyn sub-region, in 2018 the following fields of education had the highest number of graduates: Safety and Security (19%), Social Sciences (16%), Economics, Law and Administration (14.8%) and Architecture and Building (9.6%).

Vocational education

In the school year 2016/2017 in Olsztyn, 8.7 thousand students and 1.4 thousand graduates received education in 57 vocational secondary schools in 60 different professions. The schools include: technical secondary schools, supplementary technical secondary schools, basic vocational schools, post-secondary schools, art schools which grant professional qualifications, and basic vocational schools for children, youth and adults, including special schools. Among 736 students and 100 graduates of 7 basic vocational schools, the majority chose their education in the profession of a cook, a car mechanic, a hairdresser or a sales assistant, while the majority of graduates of these schools became sales assistants, cooks and confectioners. There were 3.4 thousand students (most of whom learned to become car mechanics technicians, nutrition and catering technicians, tourist services technicians, and hairdressing technicians) and 0.5 thousand graduates of 10 technical schools (IT and hotel management technicians, economics technicians and car mechanics technicians respectively). In 36 post-secondary schools, there were 4.2 thousand students (gaining education in the profession of an OHS technician, a cosmetic services technician and an administration technician) and 0.8 thousand graduates (mainly cosmetic services technicians, pharmacy technicians and accounting technicians). There also were 350 students and 43 graduates in 2 art schools who learned to become musicians and visual artists.