Trends affecting the future development of higher education in Poland are considered. It is projected that the demographic pool of higher education enrollment will in 1995-2000 return to a level roughly comparable with the peak pressures for college entry in the years 1971-75. It is suggested that demographic changes alone can explain but a fraction of a complex problem of social needs for further education. Enrollments may increase because of the more universal character of the future secondary school, the higher educational attainments of parents, and improvements of living standards. Additionally, the adult population may in the future matriculate to a greater extent in higher education for the purposes of lifelong education. In Poland, the role of higher education has been influenced by increased demand for higher education in the 1970s, vocational preferences, and changes toward less traditional forms of education. It is estimated that for 1976-2000 the following developments will occur: a reduction in the work-age population, a shift in the economic employment structure from agriculture to services, a stabilization of the initial level of branch-specific nonmanual jobs, and a decrease in the average annual growth rate of personnel with higher education in the public sector. It is suggested that the manpower approach is a weaker premise for higher education planning than are demographic and social forecasts, since economic growth cannot be reliably forecasted. Suggestions for higher education include the following: the three-level educational pyramid should be eliminated; direct ties should be established between the employer and higher education; and schools should have greater control over the course content as opposed to central planning. (SW)