Higher education as part of the modernization of contemporary Poland

Abstract

The aim of the article is to analyze the social problem of mass education within higher education. This process was particularly noticeable in the late 1990s and in the early 2000s. The phenomenon accompanying the massification of higher education was the creation of private universities. This research describes two studies utilizing two study modes – full-time and part-time (extramural). The analysis of the research problem was made on the basis of statistical data from sources of official statistics as well as reports, analyses, and scientific publications. The findings from this process included a significant increase in the number of people who started part-time studies at public or private universities. In the years 1990–2017, the number of universities increased from 162 to 390, and their students from 390 000 students to 1292,000 students; the number of graduates increased from 56,000 to 387,000. One of the most important effects of the mass education process of higher education was a significant increase in the level of education of the population.