What makes Ukraine a study destination for Indians and others

• Over the last two decades, Ukraine has registered a phenomenal rise in the number of international students, and emerged as a major draw for students from India.
• Among all countries, India sends the highest number of international students to Ukraine, according to Ukrainian government figures.

How many international students are studying in Ukraine?

• According to the Ukrainian State Center for International Education, there were 80,470 foreign students pursuing higher education in Ukraine in 2019
• At the turn of the millennium, 18,000 foreign students were studying in Ukraine, which rose to 53,664 by 2011
• A little over 18,000 students —were from India, followed by 10.2% from Morocco, 6.8% from Azerbaijan, 6.6% from Turkmenistan and 5.4% from Nigeria.

Which courses do they enrol for?

• Medicine is the leading choice of foreign students in Ukraine.
• The data show that of the 80,470 foreign nationals studying in Ukraine in 2019, 32.3% had signed up for degrees in medicine.
• In second place was medical practice with 7.7%, followed by dentistry with 6.3%.

What is the quality of education offered?

• The period that followed Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 has been marked by a clash of two very different sets of ideas, and universities haven’t been immune to that, leading to stagnation in academic outputs and research.
• According to numbers collated by UNESCO and Ukrainian think-tank CEDOS, the number of degree-seeking Ukrainians going abroad rose from 25,432 in 2007 to 83,000 in 2017-18.
• Until 2021, the V N Karazin National University of Kharkiv was the only Ukrainian university among the top 500 in QS rankings.
• In 2022, even KNUKH dropped out of the list.

What draws students to Ukraine?

• According to researcher Myroslava Hladchenko (‘International students in Ukraine a gateway to developed countries’, European Journal of Higher Education), what draws students to countries like Ukraine are low cost, and a relatively lax admission process.
• And for many, Ukraine offers opportunities to enter the larger European market, particularly since it became a part of the Bologna process in 2005 that encourages mutual recognition of degrees and collaboration among European nations in higher education.

Do Ukrainian universities actively scout for foreign students?

• In India’s case, Ukrainian medical schools attract foreign students by signing contracts with consultancy firms based in India.
• Over the years the number of such firms have multiplied. Under these “cooperation agreements”, the courses and future prospects are advertised across Indian cities.