Wyższa Szkoła Języków Obcych (WSJO) is a university college of higher learning. It is private and secular (non-denominative) in character. The legal foundation of the school is the decision of the Ministry of Education from 2004 allowing the school the rights to carry its activities which are stipulated in detail in the School's Charter. The school is urban in character, located in a small town in northern Poland (read more in location section).
The school has two main departments: English and German. They offer three-year-long programs leading up to B.A. level, with concentrations in either Linguistics or Literature. The syllabus corresponds with standard university syllabi in Poland but contains many additional courses. In accordance with its name (Wyższa Szkoła Języków Obcych literally means College of Foreign Languages), the school's magnet is a wide selection of additional language courses (over fifteen), including major European languages and a few important languages of the world. There is also a strong emphasis on media communication and information technology. The school's faculty is composed of some of the top scholars from Northern Poland.
The school offers a number of modern academic facilities including conference hall, state-of-the-art phonetics laboratory, media computer center, well-equipped library, fitness club and a nearby stadium.
The admission is moderately competitive while tuition can be described as relatively inexpensive. Since the school started in 2004, no previous-years student data is available. The target students are high school graduates and generally youth in their 20s. The anticipated entollment for the first year is approximately 100 students in both departments.
The school offers both daily and extramural courses. The latter are typically run during weekends. The academic year is divided into two semesters. First semester starts October 1, while the second starts February 15. Summer vacation, school breaks and holidays are generally in line with Polish educational system.
The school's philosophy strongly stresses the values of equality. No judgment on grounds on sex, religion, nationality or ethnicity are made. The values of equal rights are very strongly enforced in school. Most of school activities are in the open and easily accessible to both faculty and students. The students are entitled and encouraged to voice their opinions at all times.