Scholarships, Allowances and Financial Aid
- social allowance;
- allowance for people with disabilities;
- the Rector’s Scholarship;
- financial aid.
The decisions on granting the allowance are made by the Dean or Vice-Dean under the authority of the Rector. The amount of each benefit may be subject to change in future semesters. The amount of the benefit shall be determined by the Rector in consultation with the Student Government for each semester.
All of the benefits are granted at the student’s formal request.
The application for the social allowance shall be filled out and submitted via USOSweb by the 10th day of the month.
The application for the allowance for people with disabilities shall be filled out and submitted via USOSweb by the 10th day of the month.
The application for the Rector’s Scholarship shall be filled out and submitted via USOSweb by 15 October (applications submitted after the deadline will not be processed).
The application for financial aid shall be filled out and submitted via USOSweb.
The social allowance and the allowance for people with disabilities are granted for one semester. In the case when the application is submitted until the 10th day of a particular month, the allowance is paid out also for the month when the application was submitted, whereas in the case when the application was submitted after this date – from the following month, without compensation for the previous month.
The social allowance, scholarships and the allowance for people with disabilities are paid monthly; however, the benefits for October are paid together with the benefits for November, and the benefits for March together with the benefits for April.
The Rector’s Scholarship is paid monthly, but the benefit for October is paid in November.
The payment of benefits is carried out by a bank transfer to students’ personal accounts. Students are obliged to submit documents confirming that they have a bank account and stating its number to the Dean’s Office.
The benefits are subject to certain rules:
1) they are granted for the 1st cycle, 2nd cycle, and long-cycle studies;
2) they may be granted for the total period of 12 semesters, regardless of whether a student receives them or not, provided that the benefits within this period may be granted during:
a) 1st cycle studies for no longer than 9 semesters,
b) 2nd cycle studies for no longer than 7 semesters;
3) the total period stipulated in point 2 is longer by 2 semesters when a student is enrolled in long-cycle studies, which last for a total of 11 or 12 semesters according to legal regulations;
4) the period stipulated in points 2 and 3 takes into account all semesters started by a student during studies stipulated in point 1, including the semesters on leave stipulated in Article 85(1)(3) of the Act of 20 July 2018: The Law on Higher Education and Science, except for semesters of subsequent 1st cycle studies started or continued after receiving the first Bachelor’s degree, Engineer’s degree or their equivalent. In the event a student is enrolled in more degree programmes at a time, the semesters taking place simultaneously count as one semester;
5) The benefits are not granted to a student holding
a) MA, MSc or their equivalent,
b) BA, Engineer’s degree or any equivalent if the student starts the 1st cycle studies once again.
An exception to the above rules has been established regarding the right to an allowance for people with disabilities. In the event a disability has occurred during studies or after receiving a degree, a student may receive the allowance for people with disabilities for an additional period of 12 semesters. When assessing the right to the allowance for people with disabilities for an additional period of time, the moment of occurrence of the disability is taken into account, not the date of issuing a decision confirming the above fact. The date or period of disability onset is determined based on the content of the above-mentioned decision.
In the event a student is enrolled in more degree programmes, the benefits may be granted in only one programme of the student’s choice. A student is obliged to submit a declaration of not receiving benefits in other programmes.
A student may simultaneously receive a social allowance, the Rector’s Scholarship, an allowance for people with disabilities or financial aid, provided that they meet the criteria for each of the benefits, as long as the total monthly amount of the social allowance and the Rector’s Scholarship received by the student does not exceed PLN 3,560.
The amount, award criteria and payment of the benefits for the students of the University of Silesia are governed by ‘Rules and Regulations of Social Benefits for Students of the University of Silesia’ and its annexes.
The current amounts of individual benefits can be found in the announcement.