Poland’s only Seventh-day Adventist institution of higher education, the Polish College of Theology and Humanities (PCTH), will now be allowed to offer government recognized university-level degrees. The school, with a main campus in Podkowa Lesna, is also poised to join the 101 colleges and universities operated by the Adventist Church.

A team representing the Accrediting Association of Seventh-day Adventist Schools, Colleges, and Universities recommended the school be able to issue university-level bachelors degrees in religious education, tourism of Biblical countries and theology of health promotion. The school will be accredited not only by the board of education in the Trans-European region of the church, but also internationally.

“Receiving accreditation from the [world church] is a great event for us. It is not only appreciation of our work, but also new possibilities for development, for example, for liaison between our school and Adventist universities,” said Dr. Bernard Kozirog, principal of the college.

In the last 10 years several Adventist colleges have been upgraded to university status. Most of this activity has taken place in Africa, the Caribbean and parts of Asia. The difference between college and university status, however, differs from country to country, said Andrea Luxton, associate director of the Education Department for the Adventist world church.

Dr. Luxton, who was also a part of the accrediting team that recently visited the school, said Poland has rigorous requirements for university status. For example, for each degree offered, an institution must have a certain number of professors with doctorate degrees and an additional number with “habilitations,” which is higher than a doctorate.

While PCTH is growing rapidly—more than 1,100 degree-seeking students are enrolled—it has not quite met those requirements. But a unique act of Poland’s parliament between the state and the Adventist Church allows schools to offer university-level degrees as long as they are related to theology.

Seizing the opportunity, PCTH, with 13 percent of the student body being Adventist, added other degrees that would be appealing to the general public. In addition to degrees in theology and religious education, PCTH recently added “theology of health promotion” and “tourism of Biblical lands” degrees. The latter program is very popular with 800 students enrolled.

Kozirog said the tourism course was only added after thorough research, and Poland’s tourist office found there are many people who are interested in visiting the countries of popular pilgrimages, including Italy and Israel, as well as the Middle East.

Dr. Luxton added that Poland’s entrance into the European Union boosted interest in tourism studies. The school, which according to Kozirog is now the largest Adventist institution of higher learning in Europe, incorporates theology and tourism and partners with privately-owned schools that provide facilities, advertising, local management and some teaching staff. The college operates five satellite campuses, or “institutes,” throughout Poland.

A growing number of the nation’s top universities are also cooperating with the school. “Since we offer only BA-level diplomas, our graduates continue graduate studies in other schools. Today, our diplomas are recognized by 21 universities and other academic institutions, including the University of Warsaw and Jagiellonian University of Krakow,” Kozirog explained last year in an earlier ANN interview [See ANN July 27, 2004]. “Our students have also been welcomed by several of Poland’s Catholic universities, which offer graduate studies in related subjects.”

“Government recognition is an important step forward for an Adventist school in a largely Catholic country,” Luxton said.

Most PCTH students are not members of the Adventist Church, Kozirog said.  “Why do they enter our school? The research has shown that they appreciate the friendly atmosphere, good teachers and ... studying the Bible. We teach Bible subjects not only to those studying in the Department of Theology, but also in other departments.”

PCTH started in 1926 as a theological high school called the Polish Spiritual Seminary. After several moves and closures it moved to its current location in 1959 as a four-year undergraduate seminary.

The Adventist Church operates one of the largest Protestant education systems in the world with more than 1 million students worldwide and more than 6,800 schools.