The drain of entrants abroad, demographic gap, ‘feudal’ rectors, state policy in the “firefighting” mode are factors and tendencies that are largely specific to the Ukrainian higher education sector.

When asked how to reform the public and private HEIs financing system, the authorities say that a priority is to cancel state orders and abandon the planning for the years ahead and calculation of how many various specialists will be required by the state in the future.

But the problem lies not only in the method of financing – without reducing the number of HEIs and scientific and teaching staff, the financial sustainability of the sector is unachievable.

This is according to Inna Sovsun, MP of Ukraine and a lecturer of courses in Fundamentals of Public Policy, Ethics and Integrity in the Public Sphere in the master’s program of the Kyiv School of Economics, and Yevgen Nikolaev, Ph.D. in Economics, policy-researcher, and a consultant on higher and secondary education.

Which institutions of the HEI network will be abolished – those unable to sustain their existence due to lack of funds or those offering the lowest quality training?

What is the condition of demographic “relief” for domestic HEIs and when can it be expected?

More on this – in the study “Higher Education in Independent Ukraine”, performed under the project “Enhancing the Implementation of Reforms” with the financial support of National Endowment for Democracy.