Higher Education in Ukraine

Having more than 1 million student institutions of higher education in Ukraine form a system which considers to be one of the biggest in the world. 

In Ukraine you can get higher education in universities (academies, institutes) accredited on 3-4th level.

Schema of the system education of Ukraine(http://www.education.gov.ua/pls/edu/docs/common/schema_eng.html)
After 4 years of studying you can get a Bachelor degree, 5 years is for specialists, five and a half or 6 years for a Masters degree. Among all the above mentioned degrees Specialist is the most popular.

You become a student of a university according to the results of entrance exams in July and August.

The academic year beginning on the 1-st of September lasts up to the end of July and consists of two terms. All the students go on holidays between two terms: the first term (September - January) the second one (February - June). Summer holidays last for three months on average.

At the end of each term the student takes 3 or 5 examinations and 3 or 5 tests. Successful passing of examinations and tests guarantees the possibility of getting to the second term.

Students have classes everyday except for weekends. They attend lectures, tutorials, work with materials in libraries and resource centres. Higher education course includes work placement, which gives students the possibility to gain experience.

Recognition of qualification gained is the priority of the state. In case of successful graduation of a university student get the Diploma no matter what form of property it refers to. The transcript of the subjects list with marks is attached to the Diploma. Although the state guarantees the conformity to standards of qualification, the employer takes into consideration how authoritative the university is.

Today, you can get the education in 313 universities, academies and institutes of Ukraine of 3-4th level of accreditation. Among them there are 220 state institutions and 93- non state. 54,9 % of state universities students get free education.

Brief historical survey

The first higher education institutions (HEIs) emerged in Ukraine during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The first Ukrainian higher education institution was the Ostrozka School, or Ostrozkiy Greek-Slavic-Latin Collegium, similar to Western European higher education institutions of the time. Established in 1576 in the town of Ostrog, the Collegium was the first higher education institution in the Eastern Slavic territories. The oldest university was the Kyiv Mohyla Academy, first established in 1632 and in 1694 officially recognized by the government of Imperial Russia as a higher education institution. Among the oldest is also the Lviv University, founded in 1661. More higher education institutions were set up in the 19th century, beginning with universities in Kharkiv (1805), Kyiv (1834), Odessa (1865), and Chernivtsi (1875) and a number of professional higher education institutions, e.g.: Nizhyn Historical and Philological Institute (originally established as the Gymnasium of Higher Sciences in 1805), a Veterinary Institute (1873) and a Technological Institute (1885) in Kharkiv, a Polytechnic Institute in Kyiv (1898) and a Higher Mining School (1899) in Katerynoslav. Rapid growth followed in the Soviet period. By 1988 a number of higher education institutions increased to 146 with over 850,000 students[1]. Most HEIs established after 1990 are those owned by private organizations.

Higher education qualifications

Higher education qualifications combine both academic and professional qualifications. This is a very important feature of Ukrainian higher education inherited from its Soviet past. The State Diploma serves as both an educational certificate and a professional licence. Employment is determined by a match between the state determination of the knowledge and skills required for different occupation levels and the state determination of levels of educational qualification. Hence is the correspondence between classification of educational qualification and that of the occupational structure, leading to the introduction of the term ‘educational-proficiency’ level.

The Law on Higher Education (2002) establishes the three-level structure of higher education: incomplete, basic, and complete educational levels with corresponding educational-proficiency levels of Junior Specialist, Bachelor, Specialist and Master.

Junior Specialist

Junior Specialist is an educational-proficiency level of higher education of a person who on the basis of complete secondary education has attained incomplete higher education, special skills and knowledge sufficient for discharging productive functions at a certain level of professional activity, stipulated for initial positions in a certain type of economic activity. The normative period of training makes 2,5-3 years.

Persons with basic secondary education may study in the educational and professional programs of junior specialist’s training, obtaining at the same time complete secondary education.

Bachelor

Bachelor is an educational-proficiency level of higher education of a person who on the basis of complete secondary education has attained basic higher education, fundamental and special skills and knowledge, sufficient to cope with tasks and duties (work) at a certain level of professional activity (in economy, science, engineering, culture, arts, etc.). The normative period of training makes 4 years (240 ECTS credits).

Training specialists of the educational-proficiency level of Bachelor may be carried out according to the shortened programme of studies on the basis of the educational- proficiency level of Junior Specialist.

Specialist

Specialist is an educational-proficiency level of higher education of a person who on the basis of the educational-proficiency level of Bachelor has attained complete higher education, special skills and knowledge, sufficient to cope with tasks and duties (work) at a certain level of professional activity (in economy, science, engineering, culture, arts, etc.). The normative period of training makes 1 year (60 ECTS credits).

Master

Master is an educational-proficiency level of higher education of a person who has attained complete higher education, special skills and knowledge, sufficient to cope with professional tasks and duties (work) of innovative character at a certain level of professional activity (in engineering, busyness administration, pedagogics, arts, etc.).

Training specialists of the educational-proficiency level of Master may also be carried out on the basis of the educational-proficiency level of Specialist. The period of training makes typically 1-1,5 year (60-90 ECTS credits).

During his/her studies at the Master’s level, a student is required to write his/her final work on a selected subject and make its presentation, to be able to collect, analyse and summarize, synthesize and to communicate study and practical material; often knowledge of a foreign language is required.

Training specialists of the educational-proficiency level of Specialist and Master in such fields as medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, teaching is carried out on the basis of complete secondary education within the period of 5-6 years (300-360 ECTS credits) (as is common in Western Europe for state registered professions).

Higher education graduates are awarded qualifications of the appropriate educational-proficiency levels and they are granted diplomas of the state format. The Diploma is the State-recognized document which serves as both an educational certificate and a professional licence, confirming the attainment of the appropriate higher educational level and qualification of a certain educational-proficiency level (an academic degree in a field of study and speciality). The Law on Higher Education (2002) establishes the following types of documents that confirm higher education qualifications:

* Dyplom Molodshogo Spetsialista (Diploma/ qualification of Junior Specialist)
* Dyplom Bakalavra (Diploma/ qualification of Bachelor)
* Dyplom Spetsialista (Diploma/ qualification of Specialist)
* Dyplom Magistra (Diploma/ qualification of Master)