Erasmus+ grant 2026/2027: Current rates and funding thresholds

The countries participating in the Erasmus+ programme are divided into three groups based on cost-of-living indicators developed by the European Commission and coordinated in Poland by the Foundation for the Development of the Education System (FRSE). This division directly determines the amount of monthly support.

Note: The exact rates within the above ranges are determined individually by individual Warsaw universities (e.g. UW, WUT, SGH) on the basis of the budget allocated to a given unit by the National Agency. You will receive information about the final rate for a given year directly at the international relations office of your university before signing the financial agreement.

Scholarship Allowances: Social Support and Green Travel

In the current financial perspective, the Erasmus+ programme puts a lot of emphasis on equal opportunities and ecology. Students who meet certain criteria can significantly increase the amount of the base scholarship.

Social allowance (Support for people with fewer opportunities)

Persons with a current disability certificate or a decision to award a social scholarship at their home university in Warsaw (e.g. at the University of Warsaw or the Warsaw University of Technology) receive an additional EUR 250 per month. This amount is added to the basic grant. This means that a student with the right to a social allowance going to study in Rome (Group I) can receive up to EUR 1000 per month.

Subsidizing low-emission travel (Green Travel)

If you decide to travel to and from your destination by eco-friendly means of transport (train, bus, carpooling instead of plane), you can apply for a one-time Green Travel allowance of €50.

In addition, the university may grant you up to 4 days of additional financial support (daily allowance according to your grant rates) for the duration of the round trip if it is extended due to the choice of ecological means of transport. This requires the presentation of tickets (e.g. PKP/Flixbus) when settling the trip.

When does a student receive a transfer? Schedule and mechanism of payments

The scholarship is not paid in full before departure. Procedures at Warsaw universities are strictly formalized, which is to prevent financial fraud.

Tranche Breakdown: Model 80/20

• First tranche (80% of the total grant): It is paid after signing a financial agreement at the international relations office (e.g. at BWZ UW at Krakowskie Przedmieście or CWM WUT at Plac Politechniki) and after passing a mandatory language test in the OLS (Online Language Support) system. The transfer is usually ordered 30 days before the planned start of the semester abroad, as long as all documents have been delivered on time.
• Second tranche (remaining 20%): It is paid only after returning to Warsaw, settling program differences in the dean’s office, providing a Transcript of Records, a Confirmation of Stay and filling out the mandatory online questionnaire of the scholarship holder.

Tip for students from Warsaw: Transfers from universities are sometimes delayed during the holiday period (August-September) due to administrative staff holidays and accounting processes. Do not plan to leave without your own financial resources for the first month of life (including the deposit for the apartment), as the first tranche of the scholarship may not be credited to your account until the beginning of October.

How to avoid losses on currency conversion? A practical banking guide for Warsaw residents

Universities in Warsaw pay Erasmus+ grants only in EUR. If you indicate your standard personal account in PLN in the application, the bank will automatically convert the transfer at an extremely unfavourable retail rate, which with an amount of several thousand euros may mean a loss of several hundred zlotys.

How to secure your money?

• Open a currency account in EUR: It is best to choose a bank that offers free currency account maintenance and a free debit card in EUR (e.g. Pekao, PKO BP, Santander or mBank).
• Use online exchange offices: To exchange the received euros for zlotys, use external online exchange offices (e.g. Alior Kantor) or multi-currency platforms (e.g. Revolut) that offer spreads close to market rates.
• Multi-currency card: Having a card that supports multiple currencies allows you to make cost-free payments in stores and ATM withdrawals abroad, regardless of whether you are going to the Eurozone or to a country with its own currency (e.g. the Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden).

What if I fail the courses? Scholarship Refund Conditions

The Erasmus+ scholarship is not an unconditional gift. This is financial aid for the implementation of a specific study program that you undertake to pass. The main determinant is ECTS credits.

In accordance with the FRSE regulations and the internal regulations of the university (e.g. the Regulations of Studies at the University of Warsaw):

• Recommended limit: A student is obliged to bring 30 ECTS credits for one semester (or 60 ECTS for the whole year) from a foreign university.
• Minimum threshold: If you earn less than 15 ECTS, the university has the right to initiate a debt collection procedure and demand the return of part or even all of the scholarship paid.
• Random situations: If you fail the session for health reasons or other accidents (force majeure), you should immediately inform the coordinator at your Warsaw university. Properly documented applications for exemption from the obligation to repay the grant are considered individually by the Vice-Rector for Student Affairs.

The scale of scholarship refunds for lack of ECTS credits – how do Warsaw universities calculate penalties?

Most guides only warn in general terms that “for failing a semester, you have to return the scholarship”. In fact, universities in Warsaw use very precise algorithms and rarely demand a 100% refund in the event of minor mistakes.

Both the University of Warsaw and the Warsaw University of Technology use the so-called proportional grant return, based on the number of missing ECTS credits. This conversion rate protects students who have passed most of the subjects but have stumbled on one difficult exam.

• Security threshold (20-29 ECTS): If instead of the required 30 ECTS you bring, for example, 24 ECTS, most coordinators at the University of Warsaw or Warsaw School of Economics will not impose any financial penalty on you. You will only have to write an explanation to the faculty coordinator and fill in the missing credits (curriculum differences) at your home university in Warsaw in the next semester.
• Critical threshold (15–19 ECTS): In this range, Warsaw universities most often launch the proportional reimbursement procedure. For example, if you bring 15 ECTS (i.e. 50% of the plan), the university may demand a refund of part of the amount paid (e.g. 20-30% of the total grant). Detailed tables of deductions are written in the internal exchange regulations of each department and it is worth asking about them before leaving.
• Under 15 ECTS: Treated as failure to complete the study program. It automatically triggers the procedure to request the reimbursement of the entire (100%) of the first tranche paid, unless you document a serious illness or accident ( FRSE-approved Force Majeure procedure).

Extension of Erasmus for the summer semester and the “Zero Grant” – brutal financial reality

Many students who go for the winter semester assume that if they like it abroad, they will easily extend their stay for the summer semester and automatically receive another 3000-4000 EUR for it.

The decision to extend your stay has two independent dimensions: academic and financial.

• Academic Approval: Obtaining permission from the coordinator in Warsaw and at the host university to continue studies in the spring is relatively simple.
• Financial Approval (Grant Award): Warsaw universities receive a closed budget for a given academic year from FRSE in July. If the limit of funds has been exhausted during the summer admission, the university will approve your extension only with the status of ” zero-grant”. This means that you can legally study a second semester abroad without paying tuition fees, but you will not receive a single euro scholarship for this period.

How to avoid it?

Ask about the so-called resignation funds at the turn of November and December. Many students qualified for the summer semester resign from going abroad for personal reasons. Their unused grants return to the common pool of universities. Submitting an application for funding for the second semester at the exact moment when the university is settling resignations drastically increases the chances of receiving full funding for the summer semester.

Accumulation of grants – how to legally combine Erasmus+ with the m.st. Warsaw and the Rector’s Scholarship?

Students often believe that receiving an EU scholarship excludes the possibility of receiving other forms of support. In fact, by studying in Warsaw, you can create a powerful scholarship package that will make your trip 100% profitable.

Legally and without consequences, you can combine:

• Erasmus+ scholarship (base rate up to 750 EUR/month).
• Rector’s scholarship for academic achievements (at the University of Warsaw or WUT it ranges from PLN 800 to even PLN 1500 per month).
• The John Paul II Scholarship m.st Warsaw (a municipal support program for students studying in the capital, whose net income per capita does not exceed a certain threshold – rates reach several hundred zlotys per month).

Key formal condition:

The only limitation in Polish law is the prohibition of financing the same goal from two different EU sources (prohibition of double financing). Since the Rector’s Scholarship and the Scholarships of the m.st of Warsaw are financed from national funds (state or local government budget), their collection during Erasmus is fully legal and does not require reporting to the EU administration.

Why are transfers from FRSE delayed and how to protect yourself from a “dry” September?

The funding mechanism of the Erasmus+ programme is based on a complicated bureaucratic ladder: the European Commission transfers funds to the National Agency (in Poland: FRSE), which only transfers tranches to the accounts of individual universities (UW, WUT, SGH, etc.) after verifying the agreements.

The payment of your scholarship depends on the moment your university signs an annual agreement with FRSE. This often happens only in August. If you are also late with the delivery of the signed Learning Agreement or insurance to the international relations office in Warsaw, your application will go to the end of the accounting queue.

Realistic scenario:

You leave for Portugal on September 5th. You have to pay the first rent for the room (often in advance for 2 months as a deposit – a total of approx. 800-1000 EUR) on arrival. Meanwhile, the transfer from the university does not reach your account until mid-October.

Recommendation: Each student leaving Warsaw for the winter semester must have a so-called starter buffer of at least PLN 4000-5000 in cash or on a credit card in order to survive the first month without grant support.

Erasmus+ internships for graduates – legal status, social security and post-defence insurance

A graduate internship under Erasmus+ is one of the most underrated financial options. It allows you to go on a paid internship abroad (with a grant of up to 900 EUR/month) up to a year after graduating from Warsaw The key is to go through the college admissions process before defending your bachelor’s or master’s thesis.

The legal status of such a trip has specific consequences, which students learn about only after the fact:

• Loss of Student Status: On the day of the defense, you lose your student status (the exception is first-cycle graduates who retain their student rights until 31 October, but this does not apply to insurance for graduate trips). This means that your Warsaw university stops registering you for health insurance in ZUS.
• The need for self-insurance: As an Erasmus graduate, you cannot use the standard EHIC issued “per student”. You must register with the employment office as an unemployed person (which suspends the possibility of leaving) OR take out insurance voluntarily, or take out a commercial policy covering medical costs and civil liability (OC) at the workplace, which is an absolute requirement of the career office signing the internship contract.
• No pension contributions: The Erasmus+ grant for graduate internships is completely exempt from social security contributions (ZUS) in Poland. This period does not count towards your length of service as a contribution period, which is worth taking into account in your long-term career planning.

The impact of the Erasmus+ grant on parents’ taxes and social benefits in Poland

An issue that keeps many parents of students awake at night is the impact of a grant of several thousand euros on their tax settlements in Poland and the right to receive social benefits (e.g. family allowances or a maintenance fund).

• Pro-family relief (child relief): Parents can deduct the tax relief for a child up to the age of 25, provided that the child did not earn income exceeding the statutory limit in the tax year (in recent years it has been about PLN 16,000 – 19,000). Since the Erasmus+ scholarship is completely exempt from income tax under Article 21(1)(23a) of the PIT Act, it is not included in the student’s income. Parents can safely deduct the full child allowance on their annual PIT return, even if the student has received a €5000 grant.
• Social benefits and alimony: The situation is similar when calculating the income criterion for family allowances, the alimony fund or the 800+ program. Funds from the Erasmus+ programme are of a targeted nature (mobility support) and, in accordance with the Polish law on social assistance and family benefits, are not treated as family income.

Blockade and reservation of a place in a Warsaw dormitory for the duration of departure

If you live in one of the student dormitories in Warsaw (e.g. DS “Riviera” WUT, DS “Sabinki” SGH or DS 7 “Sulimy” UW) and you go on Erasmus only for the winter semester, you are faced with a dilemma: what to do with the room?

• Prohibition of subletting: Subletting your place in a room to a colleague for the duration of the trip without the consent of the administration and the Residents’ Council is a gross violation of the regulations. If such a procedure is detected (and the gatekeepers in Warsaw meticulously verify the residents‘ cards), you risk immediate disciplinary removal from the dormitory and the loss of the right to accommodation in the following years.
• Suspension/seat reservation procedure: Most Warsaw universities have a procedure for booking a place for students going on exchange programs. You report your departure to the administration and the Residents’ Council at the end of the summer semester. Your place for the winter semester is assigned to another student (e.g. from Erasmus coming to Warsaw), and you receive a guarantee of being allocated a room in the same dormitory from the summer semester (from February), without having to re-start in the general recruitment.

The truth about the OLS (Online Language Support) language tests – does a poor result block the trip?

Before receiving the first tranche of the scholarship, each student must log in to the EU Academy platform and take the OLS language test in the language in which they will study abroad. Many myths have grown up around this test, which arouse unnecessary panic.

• Can a poor result (e.g. A2 with B2 required by the partner university) block the trip?No. The result of the OLS test is only diagnostic for the European Commission (it examines whether the student’s language level has improved after a semester abroad). This result is not sent to the host university and does not constitute a basis for withdrawing the nomination for mobility.
• Why is the test crucial? Passing the test is a formal condition for triggering the payment of the scholarship. The USOS system at the University of Warsaw or Warsaw University of Technology will not allow you to generate a transfer order for the first tranche until the status “OLS completed” appears in your profile. Ignoring emails from the EU Academy system is the most common reason why students do not receive money before departure.

Costs of intermediary banks (SEPA vs. SWIFT transfers) – why is the account credited less than in the contract?

Universities in Warsaw make scholarship transfers in EUR. To avoid additional fees, your bank in Poland and the university bank must process the transaction using the SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) system.

Sometimes, especially when providing accounts in foreign banks or using non-standard multi-currency accounts, the transfer can be mistakenly sent using the SWIFT system.

• SHA (Shared) Option Cost: With SWIFT transfers, the sender’s bank pays for the shipment and the recipient’s bank pays for accepting the transfer. What is worse, the so-called intermediary banks may appear on the route, which charge a provisional commission (often from 10 to even 50 EUR) directly from the transfer amount. As a result, instead of, for example, EUR 2400 of the first tranche, EUR 2360 will be credited to your account.
• How to defend yourself against it? Make sure that your currency account has a full IBAN number starting with PL and a BIC/SWIFT code. Before signing the financial agreement, make sure at the international exchange office (e.g. at BWZ UW) that the transfer will come out as a SEPA transfer (it is free of charge and guarantees that you will receive exactly the amount that appears on the contract).

Warsaw universities give the opportunity to replenish ECTS credits upon return.

• Condition at the Warsaw university (conditional entry): If you brought 20 ECTS from Spain instead of 30 ECTS, your Vice-Dean for Student Affairs in Warsaw may agree to the so-called catch-up courses. You are conditionally enrolled for the next semester in Warsaw, and you have to complete the missing 10 ECTS by attending additional classes and passing exams at your home university.
• Saving the grant: When the dean’s office approves your conditional entry and considers the semester to be passed (despite the differences in the curriculum), the international relations office (e.g. BWZ) treats your departure as successfully settled. This avoids having to return any part of the scholarship. The key is to work closely with the coordinator and prevent a situation in which you will not be enrolled without the right to rectify in Warsaw.

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Erasmus+ scholarship taxed with income tax in Poland?

No. According to the regulation of the Minister of Finance, income earned by students under the Erasmus+ program is completely exempt from personal income tax (PIT). You do not have to show the received grant in your annual tax return (e.g. PIT-37).

Can I receive a salary from my employer and a scholarship at the same time when I go on an internship?

Yes. The Erasmus+ programme allows you to combine a scholarship (grant for an internship) with a salary paid by the company or institution hosting you for a traineeship. This is an excellent way to repair the budget in more expensive European capitals, such as Paris, Dublin or Brussels.

What will happen to my social scholarship in Warsaw during my Erasmus trip?

During your stay on a foreign scholarship, you retain the full right to receive all other scholarships awarded to you by your home university in Warsaw (social scholarship, rector’s scholarship for academic achievements, scholarship for people with disabilities). These amounts are paid to your account in PLN regardless of the Erasmus+ grant paid in EUR.

Can I extend the trip for another semester and receive an additional grant for it?

Extending the mobility from the winter semester to the summer semester within one academic year is possible, but it requires the consent of both universities (Warsaw and the host university) and the signing of an annex to the agreement before the end of the first semester. The award of an additional financial grant for the second semester depends on the availability of free funds in the coffers of your home university – sometimes the extension is made with the status of a “zero grant” (the scholarship holder retains Erasmus rights, but does not receive money for the second semester).

What travel costs does the Erasmus+ scholarship cover?

The Erasmus+ scholarship in the basic version is a lump sum for living costs and does not include a set amount for plane or train tickets. The exceptions are students entitled to a social allowance and people using the Green Travel option (an additional EUR 50 and a daily allowance for the duration of the trip). You must calculate the cost of transport in the total amount of the scholarship awarded.

Where in Warsaw do you sign a financial agreement before leaving?

The place to sign the agreement is always the international relations office of your university. For the University of Warsaw, it is the International Relations Office (BWZ) located in the Kazimierzowski Palace on the Main Campus at Krakowskie Przedmieście. For the Warsaw University of Technology – Centre for International Cooperation (CWM) at Noakowskiego Street. You will receive detailed instructions on how to book dates by email after qualifying for the trip.

The Erasmus+ scholarship for the academic year 2026/2027 remains a key instrument supporting the mobility of Warsaw students. Proper planning of the trip in terms of finances – including opening an account in EUR, accumulating savings for the first month of life and a thorough analysis of cost thresholds – allows you to avoid stress and focus on learning and international integration. Remember to complete the formalities in time at the international relations offices in Warsaw to secure the payment of the first, largest tranche of the grant before departure.