The processes that took place in Polish science and higher education in the post-socialist period are considered. The state’s approaches to scientific and educational policy, as well as the ways used by scientific institutions and universities to adapt to the new economic and social realities, are assessed. Several stages can be distinguished in the evolution of Polish science and higher education. The first, which began shortly after the collapse of the socialist system, was characterized by broad autonomy for scientific institutions and universities and the lack of state scientific and educational policy. This resulted in a sharp expansion of higher education due to the fee-based segment and a decline in research activity, with research institutes still relying primarily on state funding. The autonomy of research institutions led to the conservation of traditional norms and familiar areas of activity within the academic community and was useless for the development of Polish science and its integration into the international academic space (even though individual research organizations maintained a high scientific level). Since the 2010s, the state has begun to show interest in the development of the scientific and educational spheres and has undertaken a series of reforms aimed at limiting academic autonomy and creating a system for assessing the effectiveness of research. The reforms are viewed critically by part of the Polish scientific community. At present, one can say that flagship research universities and a community of researchers oriented towards the international academic environment have emerged in Poland. However, this is happening at the expense of partial marginalization of the larger part of the academic community.