In Ukraine, a reform of higher education is being prepared, which provides for grants for it

In Ukraine, this year they plan to launch a reform of higher education, changing the approach to education "on the budget" and under a contract, so that more students receive state support.

This was announced by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi.

The new draft law provides that students will be able to study at the expense of a state order, state grants, soft loans, as well as on a contract form of education.

A state order is a completely free education of a student with budget funds, while state grants will allow to fully or partially cover the costs of education. The amount of the grant will be determined based on the results of an external independent assessment (EIA) or a national multi-subject test (NMT).

Currently, 60% of students study under a contract, and the goal of the draft law is to ensure that 60% of students receive various types of state support.

Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov gives arguments in favor of the new format of student support:

• competition between universities for students, which will stimulate the improvement of the quality of education;
• students will not be limited by the availability of state or regional order places:
• higher education will become available to more Ukrainians.

According to Fedorov, the system of grants for higher education is widespread in the world, where the center of the system is the student, not the university.

The reform also provides for the reloading of preferential loans, which must be issued by banks.

If the Verkhovna Rada passes this draft law in the near future, the reform will come into effect in September 2024.

• In 2023, about 267,000 students entered the bachelorʼs program, of which 67,000 were on the budget. Last year, 226 thousand became undergraduate students.