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Teka Commission of Legal Sciences Polish Academy of Sciences Branch in Lublin

Vol. 19 No. 1 (2026)

Articles

Endowment Capital as a Systemic Legal Instrument for Strengthening the Higher Education System in Poland: de lege ferenda Proposals

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32084/tkp.10688  [Google Scholar]
Published: 2026-06-30

Abstract

The aim of this article is to examine the feasibility of implementing endowment-type mechanisms as a policy instrument for strengthening the financial stability of public universities in Poland. The study is motivated by increasing fiscal constraints and the misalignment between short-term public funding cycles and the long-term nature of university missions. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach at the intersection of management, economics, and law, the article combines doctrinal legal analysis with qualitative empirical research based on a survey of university executives. The findings indicate both strong institutional support for capital-based financing mechanisms and significant limitations of the current funding model. The article reconceptualizes the endowment as a public-law capitalization instrument operating within the general government finance framework, rather than as a purely philanthropic construct. On this basis, it advances a de lege ferenda proposal for the systematic transfer of government securities to increase universities’ core funds. The study contributes to research on higher education finance and public governance by integrating legal and management perspectives and by offering a theoretically grounded and practically applicable model of endowment adapted to continental European conditions.

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