26 seats.
Once in a lifetime.

Ten days in Poland, in rooms most people never get to enter. For the 2026 cohort, 103 people applied. Applications close November 30, 2026.

Start your application
For parents

Apply

Open November 1 to 30, 2026. Your background, your field, and a personal statement on where you are headed. The statement carries the most weight.

Interview

Shortlisted applicants speak with us before selection, not after.

Selection

The cohort is built across all five pillars. In the 2026 cycle, 103 people applied and 26 were selected.

Who this is for.

Each year we select 26 students, ages 18 to 26, with Polish roots or a strong interest in Polish heritage. You do not have to be Polish to apply.

Ages 18 to 26

Students and recent graduates. Past cohorts have run from high school seniors to medical students.

Roots or real interest

We do not measure heritage or ask for documents. A strong interest in Poland is enough.

A field you can name

Tell us roughly where you are headed so we can place you in a pillar. Undecided is an accepted answer.

A valid US passport

Valid for at least six months past the June 24, 2027 return. The cohort travels together.

Every cost, stated plainly.

Heritage Polonia is fully funded for admitted students. Round-trip flights from Chicago, hotels, meals, transport, guides, and every entry are covered by sponsors, partners, and donors. Families cover travel to and from Chicago O’Hare. Here is every payment the program itself requires.

$79 to apply

A commitment filter, not a price tag. Applying does not guarantee selection.

Waived on request

If $79 is a barrier, say so in your application and we will waive it for financial need.

$750 deposit if selected

Selected students place this deposit to hold their seat. $500 is returned after the trip when the student completes the program. The other $250 covers administrative costs.

What we expect once you are in.

We would rather say this now than in a hotel lobby in Gdańsk. This is a leadership program run on a schedule, with partners who have cleared their calendars for you.

Heritage Polonia cohort members talking before a 2026 program session

You must be present.

Every event on the schedule is mandatory. One late arrival holds up the whole cohort and a partner who is waiting. Repeated absence ends your participation.

Represent the program.

You will be in rooms with consuls, executives, and heads of institutions who agreed to be there because of what Heritage Polonia is. Conduct is taken seriously, including after hours.

After-hours risk is your own.

What you do on your own time carries real consequences, and the waiver you sign spells them out. Read it properly.

Travel together.

The cohort flies to Poland and back as one group. Individual flight changes create real administrative work and carry a fee.

None of this is meant to be forbidding. Ambiguity, not strictness, is what caused problems in past years.

The questions you are actually asking.

All of our applicants are legal adults. That does not mean you stop worrying, and it does not mean we stop telling you things.

Who is with them?

Heritage Polonia leadership travels with every cohort for the full program. Emergency contacts in the US and Poland are shared privately with every family before departure.

Where will they be, and when?

The full schedule and hotel list are in the Heritage Polonia Connect app before departure, and the itinerary is shared with families.

What does it cost us?

A $79 application fee, waived on request for financial need, and a $750 deposit if selected. $500 of the deposit is returned after the trip when your student completes the program, and $250 covers administrative costs. Round-trip flights from Chicago, hotels, meals, transport, and entries are covered. Families cover travel to and from Chicago O’Hare, and your student should bring personal spending money.

Is the deposit refundable?

Partly. Of the $750 deposit, $500 is returned after the trip, as long as your student completes the program: attending every scheduled event and meeting the program’s conduct expectations. If your student withdraws before the trip, the $500 is also returned. If a student leaves the program early or is sent home, the $500 is not returned; it covers the additional cost of their flight home. The other $250 covers administrative costs and is not refunded.

The $500 goes back to the original form of payment, so a deposit paid by credit card is returned to that same card.

Is alcohol part of the program?

Program events are not built around it. The kickoff serves no alcohol. Where wine or beer is served in Poland with a meal it is limited and supervised.

What is expected of my student?

Attendance at every scheduled event, punctuality, and conduct that reflects the program in front of the partners who host us. The full expectations are above and repeated in the application.

 

Still have a question? Write to us

Apply for 2027.

Applications close November 30, 2026. Tell us where you are headed and what you will bring to the cohort. The $79 fee is waived on request for financial need.
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