Pursuant to Article 60(1) of the Act – Law on Higher Education and Science, a higher education institution may offer joint study programmes with another higher education institution, a PAS institute, a research institute, an international institute, or a foreign higher education institution or research organisation.
The principles of cooperation are defined in a written agreement, which in particular specifies the entity responsible for entering data into the Integrated System of Information on Higher Education and Science (POL-on), as well as the entity entitled to receive financial resources for educating students in jointly offered full-time programmes.
A higher education institution may conduct joint study programmes if:
- it has established the programme on the basis of Article 53(7) of the Act – Law on Higher Education and Science, or
- it has obtained permission to establish a programme in the field of study to be offered jointly.
A graduate of a joint study programme may receive a joint diploma, meeting the requirements set out in the provisions of the Act – Law on Higher Education and Science defining the necessary elements of a diploma of graduation and of a joint diploma (Article 81(9) of the Act).
In accordance with the Statute of the Polish Accreditation Committee (§ 4(13)), in the case of programmes referred to in the aforementioned Article 60(1) of the Act, offered jointly with a foreign higher education institution or research organisation, the Committee conducts a quality evaluation in line with international standards in the field of quality assurance of joint study programmes.