The College of Agriculture of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow (1890–1923) as an Example of Special-Purpose Education: The Legal View

Abstract

The article focuses on the education of specialists in the field of agriculture on the example of the College of Agriculture of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. The aim is to present the organization and operation of the College within the legal setting of the time. The text has been divided into two parts. The first concerns the period from the establishment of the College of Agriculture (i.e., from the end of the 19^th century) to the end of World War I, when the university in Krakow was supervised by the Imperial and Royal Ministry of Religious Affairs and Education in Vienna. The second part is devoted to the period of operation of the College after regaining independence in 1918. The research has demonstrated that the College of Agriculture was an original and innovative solution among the institutions of higher education of the time. The curricula, designed both during the Austro-Hungarian rule and in independent Poland, guaranteed a fully professional education. The novelty was that the college students were also trained in law, political sciences, economics, and management; in other words, they graduated as modern agricultural managers. These conclusions represent a scientific value and demonstrate the originality of the research. Given that the research covers the domain of higher education system, it has an international reach.