Successes and challenges of contemporary higher education institutions

Abstract

The paper is an attempt to summarize nearly three decades of the development of higher education in Poland. Reflections on the evolution of the sector are presented in the context of challenges that higher education institutions (HEIs) have faced and successes they have achieved by taking advantage of the opportunities that arise in the environment. The transformation of the higher education sector was initiated by the introduction of the Higher Education Act in 1990, which was the basis for the construction of a new higher education structure. The sector was also modernized as a result of actions aimed at achieving the objectives of the signed Bologna Declaration. Subsequent amendments to legal acts regulating higher education issues aimed at implementing the idea of the co-creation of the European Higher Education Area. Over time, dynamic changes in the environment of HEIs and the limited resources (e.g. human or financial resources) have contributed to taking action aimed at increasing the efficiency of the HEIs’ operation, and thus to professionalizing management. Subsequent, even revolutionary changes can be made due to the Act 2.0.