Policy Framework and the Economic and Financial Situation of Higher Education and Science as Determinants of the Sustainable Development of Polish Universities

The quality of human capital is pivotal to the promotion of economic growth and development. In this regard, the quality of education and of academic, practice-based research systems plays a crucial role. The authors conducted an analysis of the systemic framework for financing higher education and science in Poland, with a particular focus on the economic and financial situation of the 21 largest Polish universities from 2019 to 2024. In order to assess whether the current financial basis of these entities facilitates conducting research, bridges the gap between academia and industry, and thus supports their sustainable development, a taxonomic composite indicator and cluster analysis were employed. The results obtained indicated unfavourable trends in the domain of higher education and research and development (R&D) activity among Polish universities. These include, in particular, the exceeding of operating costs over operating revenues, the deterioration of financial results, insufficient funding from the state budget in relation to the scale of operations, and relatively high volatility of the economic and financial situation in subsequent years.