Ukraine is changing the system of financing universities: they plan to issue state grants to students

Ukraine is preparing a large-scale reform of the higher education financing system. Instead of the exclusively traditional model of budget places, the state plans to introduce a separate mechanism of educational grants that will help students pay for contract education in universities.

This is bill No. 10399, which has already been prepared for the second reading in the Verkhovna Rada.

The Ministry of Education and Science explains that the budget form of education will not disappear – the state order will continue to be distributed on a competitive basis. At the same time, grants should become an additional tool to support applicants and partially or fully compensate for the cost of training on a contract.

The bill provides for five main types of state grants. In particular:

academic grants – for applicants with high results of the National Secondary Education Test or external assessment;
special grants – for young people with outstanding sports or artistic achievements;
social grants – for vulnerable categories of citizens;
“Heroes’ Grants” – for combatants who suffered as a result of the war and the Revolution of Dignity;
separate grants for the training of reserve officers.

The Ministry of Education and Science notes that the pilot model has already demonstrated significant demand among students. According to the department, more than 25 thousand people have used grant support, and the average amount of assistance was about 23.6 thousand hryvnias.

In addition, as part of the reform, it is planned to change the approach to forming a state order. The number of budget places will be determined taking into account labor market forecasts and real needs of the economy. For this purpose, a separate analytical monitoring system will be created.

The specialties related to security, defense, and critically important sectors of the economy will remain priorities for state funding.

The draft law also provides for the possibility of re-obtaining the same level of education at the expense of the state budget for certain categories of citizens.

The reform is planned to be implemented in stages. Some of the norms may come into force a month after the law is adopted, and the full launch of the new higher education financing system is expected from January 1, 2027.