35 Years of WSB-NLU: International Roots, Practical Education and a New Academic Chapter

In the 2026/2027 academic year, Nowy Sącz School of Business – National-Louis University (WSB-NLU) celebrates its 35th anniversary. Founded in 1991, during a period of major economic and social transformation in Poland, WSB-NLU has developed from an innovative business school into a multidisciplinary university combining practical education, international cooperation and a growing research profile.

The history of WSB-NLU is closely connected with its founder and first Rector, Krzysztof Pawłowski, whose vision was to create a new type of higher education institution in post-communist Poland: internationally oriented, closely connected with business and focused on the practical value of education. Cooperation with National Louis University in the United States became an important part of this model, bringing international experience and educational approaches into management education in Nowy Sącz.

Internationalisation has therefore been part of WSB-NLU’s identity from its early years. Its location has also played a role.

Nowy Sącz is situated in southern Poland, close to the Slovak border and within relatively easy reach of the Czech Republic and Hungary.

Over the years, this location has supported the University’s relationships across Central and Eastern Europe. Rather than treating its position outside Poland’s largest metropolitan centres as a limitation, WSB-NLU has combined strong regional roots with international cooperation and digital development.

Management at the heart of WSB-NLU

Management is the University’s oldest and historically central field of education. Today, WSB-NLU offers Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes in Management, including programmes taught in English, as well as MBA studies with a long tradition at the University.

In 2026, WSB-NLU entered another important stage of its academic development. Following Poland’s national evaluation of research activity, the University received the B+ scientific category in Management and Quality Sciences. This strengthened its academic status and gave WSB-NLU the legal right to award doctoral degrees in Management and Quality Sciences.

Building on these academic powers, WSB-NLU now offers doctoral studies in Management and Quality Sciences, open to candidates from Poland and abroad. Management – the field on which the University was originally built – now provides an educational and academic pathway extending from Bachelor’s and Master’s studies, through MBA education, to doctoral studies and the doctoral degree.

Management remains at the heart of WSB-NLU, but the University has expanded considerably during its 35-year history. Today, its other major fields of education are Psychology, Law and Computer Science. Although different in their academic foundations, these programmes share an emphasis on practical skills, professional development and links with the contemporary labour market.

Combining academic development with practical education

The growth of WSB-NLU’s research capacity does not mean abandoning the practical model on which the University was built. On the contrary, its current development is based on combining an increasingly strong academic and research profile with a practical, professionally oriented approach to education.

Cooperation with companies, public institutions and other organisations creates opportunities for internships, applied learning and activities connected with real professional and societal challenges.

This relationship with practice is particularly natural in Management, but it also influences education in Psychology, Law and Computer Science.

The University is therefore developing research and doctoral education while continuing to focus on the skills and knowledge needed by graduates in a changing labour market. Research, professional practice and education are treated not as competing priorities, but as complementary parts of the University’s development.

Part of international management education networks

WSB-NLU’s international development is increasingly supported by participation in international quality and management education networks.

The University holds CEEMAN International Quality Accreditation (IQA) and is a member of AACSB International, EFMD Global and ACEEU. These relationships connect WSB-NLU with international communities focused on management education, academic quality, entrepreneurship, engagement and institutional development.

The international dimension is also visible in everyday student life. Management programmes have been offered in English at WSB-NLU for many years, and the University welcomes students from different parts of the world.

The Student’s House, located directly on the campus in Nowy Sącz, provides accommodation and supports an academic environment in which Polish and international students can study, live and meet in one place. For international students, this offers the practical advantage of having accommodation, teaching facilities and university life concentrated within the same campus environment.

CloudA and flexible education

Digitalisation has become another important feature of the WSB-NLU model. Well before online education became a necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic, the University developed CloudA, its own digital platform supporting teaching, communication, administration and educational monitoring.

Today, CloudA provides students with a convenient digital learning environment, including access to educational materials and recordings of online classes. The University also makes extensive use of synchronous online teaching, combined where required with classes conducted physically on campus.

This infrastructure supports flexible access to education, which is particularly valuable for students who combine university studies with professional and personal responsibilities. Digital technology is therefore not simply an addition to traditional teaching at WSB-NLU, but an established part of how the University organises contemporary education.

35 years – and a new stage of development

The 35th anniversary comes at a particularly important moment in WSB-NLU’s history.

The University began in 1991 with a strong focus on Management, international cooperation and practical business education. Thirty-five years later, these elements remain central to its identity, but WSB-NLU has developed around them: expanding into Psychology, Law and Computer Science, investing in digital education, joining international academic and management education networks, and strengthening its research activity.

The launch of doctoral studies and the right to award doctoral degrees in Management and Quality Sciences mark a new stage in this development. WSB-NLU is no longer only a practically oriented institution focused on professional education. It is also developing as a research-active academic university, while continuing to cultivate the close relationship with business and professional practice that has characterised it since its foundation.

From its campus in Nowy Sącz, WSB-NLU enters its next chapter as an internationally connected university combining research and doctoral education with practical learning, business engagement and digital accessibility.

As WSB-NLU celebrates 35 years of its history, it is proud to do so as part of the Eduniversal international community.