Abstract
Despite positive transformations in higher education in Ukraine since 2014 when a new Law was introduced, the system of public funding still remains a highly centralized and strongly budgetary dependent based on the state planning methods, which in the situation of lack of resources becomes more imbalanced and inefficient.The current system of allocation of the “state order for training the specialists with higher education” does not ensure an equal and fair competition among top 10 universities and the rest, especially regional, and the system cannot guarantee state-funded places to all applicants with high results of the External Independent Testing exams. At the same time, only a small share of graduates work on the specialty they acquired. The situation on the labor market does not encourage graduates to be employed in public institutions, which is harmful for the public sector of economy, especially in the regions. It proves that the system of distribution and allocation of government funding between higher education institutions in Ukraine needs urgent reforming.The objective is to analyze the current system of higher education funding in Ukraine in its national dimension and local perspective, and to develop proposals for its improvement, considering the selected good practices and using the following methods: literature analysis, method of retrospective analysis to research budgetary expenditures, determining the Net Present Value for calculating the government cost. Finally, a feasible proposal to reform the mechanism of public higher education funding was developed.
Highlights
Ukraine is one of the countries with a high potential of human resources proved by global rankings and at the same time weak positioning of economy
The situation on the labor market does not encourage graduates to be employed in public institutions, which is harmful for the public sector of economy, especially in the regions
It proves that the system of distribution and allocation of government funding between higher education institutions in Ukraine needs urgent reforming
Summary
Ukraine is one of the countries with a high potential of human resources proved by global rankings and at the same time weak positioning of economy. Kyiv universities have sufficient number of students paying tuition fees that exceeds public funding and they could develop and operate successfully even without constantly increasing state order, especially at the cost of budgetary places in smaller universities. The leading universities cannot compete with the smaller regional or local universities, and public funding cannot be redistributed from regional to central HEIs, as they function in different conditions Taking into account such imbalance and disproportions in Ukraine, there is a need to bring the existing system of higher education funding to current realities, considering both students’ needs, universities and government interests, and taking into account the significance of the regional and local higher education landscape, as well as aiming at the priority of balanced economic growth
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
