Entrepreneurial University – from Ideas to Reality

The aim of this study is to formulate and highlight the thesis on reasonability and capability of applying such attitudes and pursuing such activities in the practical operation of institutions of higher education that reflect the idea of the entrepreneurial university which has become prominent nowadays. The idea is described in brief and its present status is indicated here. The authors are seeking conditions for the practical implementation of this idea. They formulate four attributes of the entrepreneurial university, naming them economic, market, innovative and managerial orientations. They point to specific criteria of identifying each of the orientations. They present the general assessment of entrepreneurship of Polish institutions of higher education. Their conclusions highlight the most topical conditions for implementing the idea of entrepreneurial university, such as: building the economic strength and market position of the university, developing relations with the socioeconomic environment, internationalisation and innovativeness. The authors give support to the idea of the entrepreneurial university but – by examining the Polish reality – they notice the need for actions in the sphere of law, which regulates the university’s capabilities to act, and point to the need for entrepreneurship-oriented transformations of lawyers and university management staff’s awareness.