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SURVEY ON THE NOSTRIFICATION PROCEDURE
The survey regarding the nostrification procedure in Poland was carried out by the Bureau for Academic Recognition and International Exchange (Polish NARIC/ENIC) in June 2003 – February 2004 among the organizational units of higher education institutions entitled to recognize (nostrify) foreign higher education credentials in Poland, i.e. units having right to award academic degrees of doktor and doktor habilitowany. All the above mentioned institutions were asked to fill in the questionnaire accessible through the Internet at the Polish NARIC site and sent by post.
The research covered the period since the academic year 1991/1992 to the academic year 2002/2003, i.e. since the following regulations governing the recognition of foreign higher education credentials in Poland came in force:
Regulation of the Minister of National Education on the Rules and Procedure for Nostrification of Diplomas and Professional Titles Obtained Abroad (December 10, 1991)
Regulation of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers on the Rules and Procedure for Nostrification of Academic Degrees Obtained Abroad (July 22,1991)
As a result, 380 units of higher education institutions and research institutes filled in and sent back the questionnaire (i.e. 58 % of the requested institutions), and thus 167 questionnaires were received and 213 letters explaining that the given unit had so far not used the procedure of nostrification.
Since the participation of the respondents was limited, the data presented in the summary of the research does not show the entire scope of the recognition issues regarding the nostrification procedure in Poland. Nevertheless, the results of the research may be useful to describe main trends and
Level of education
The questionnaires showed that since the academic year 1991/1992 to the academic year 2002/2003 1035 nostrification procedures were carried out, including: 352 nostrifications of academic degrees (PhDs), 118 – of first cycle higher education diplomas, and 565 – of the second cycle higher education diplomas. It means that more than a half (54,6%) of recognized credentials are second cycle higher education diplomas (magister level or equivalent). About 1/3 of them (34%) are diplomas awarding academic degrees, and only about 1/10 (11,4%) are diplomas of completion of higher education studies of the first cycle (licencjat level).
The number of nostrification procedures
The research results show that the number of nostrification procedures was constantly growing during the first 8 years, while since the end of the 90s, it has remained at the level of about 140 procedures a year.
The country of origin of the recognized diplomas
The received questionnaires show that the recognized diplomas come from 75 countries of all the contintetns. Most of them (75 %) were issued in Europe – they come from 35 countries, while about 13% in the USA. The biggest number of recognized diplomas came from Germany (27 %), USA (13%), France (10%), Italy (9%), and the United Kingdom (6%).
Quite many of the recognized diplomas were issued in such countries as: Canada (3%), Spain (2%), Switzerland, Japan, the Netherlands, Austria, Australia, Lithuania, Sweden (1,5%).
Applicants
The research shows that over 82% of the persons applying for the nostrifications are Polish citizens. Only about 18% of the applicants are foreigners.
The research concerned also the details of the nostrification procedure, such as:
requested documents
fees
confirmation of the authenticity of the recognized diplomas
average duration of the nostrification procedure
information on the status of the institution that issued the qualifications.