Medicine, law, IT: in which specialties at universities the cost of the contract will increase
7 May 21:42
The cost of contract education in state universities will increase in Ukraine. This is reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to the Cabinet of Ministers’ Resolution No. 417 of April 11, 2025.
The cost of contract education at state universities in prestigious specialties will be raised to the level of state spending per state-funded student at the relevant educational institution. This means that the contract form will now become more economically fair and transparent, as it will reflect the real cost of training a specialist.
The relevant provision is provided for by a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers, which approved a list of specialties for which maximum – i.e. minimum possible – prices for contract education will be set in 2025. These specialties include medicine, law, international relations, computer science, cybersecurity, economics, public administration, pharmacy, psychology, journalism, architecture, and some others.
The Ministry of Education and Science explains that a number of state universities have been deliberately underestimating the cost of the contract for years to attract more students. However, this actually led to the fact that the state indirectly subsidized contractors, covering the lack of funds from the budget. This practice was recognized as unfair to taxpayers and state-funded students.
Unfortunately, many higher education institutions set contract prices half or more lower than the amount paid by the state to the university for each state-funded student. And when the state gives, for example, 55-56 thousand hryvnias per year to train one student, and a contract student studies for 25 thousand, two questions arise. The first is whether the state partially pays for the education of this contract student (in fact, it does.) And the second is whether it is possible to train a student of any specialty for 25,000 hryvnias,” said Deputy Minister of Education and Science Mykhailo Vynnytsky.
The ministry believes that establishing the real cost of education will not only equalize the financial burden but also improve the quality of higher education. As a result, universities will be able to invest more in the development of their material and technical base, updating curricula, attracting qualified teachers, and retaining academic staff.
At the same time, the Ministry of Education and Science plans to introduce new targeted assistance tools to support socially vulnerable groups. These may include preferential educational loans, tuition grants, scholarship programs, and the opportunity to participate in social projects in exchange for partial coverage of the contract cost. The government promises that no applicant will be deprived of the right to education due to lack of funds.
The increase in the cost of contract education in 2025 in Ukraine will primarily affect prestigious and highly sought-after specialties, which traditionally have a large competition and a high level of state funding.
The list of such specialties, according to the government’s resolution and the Ministry of Education and Science, includes:
- Medicine (all medical specialties, including dentistry, pediatrics, etc.)
- Law
- International relations
- Computer Science and Information Technology
- Cybersecurity
- Economics, management, public administration and administration
- Psychology
- Pharmacy
- Architecture and urban planning
- Journalism (in some universities)
These specialties are chosen due to high competition, popularity among applicants, and a significant financial burden on the budget.
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