Publication date: 13.05.2024
Changes in the financing of higher education: the VRU adopted the draft law in the first reading
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted in the first reading the project of the Law "On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine Regarding the Financing of Higher Education and the Provision of Targeted State Support to Its Purveyors" (No. 10399).
The draft law provides for a change in the mechanism of formation of the state order, and also proposes to diversify the budgetary financing of higher education, in particular by introducing state grants in parallel with the state order. In addition, the mechanism of preferential lending is being improved, the right and obligation of the first workplace for those seeking higher education is ensured by state and regional orders.
What is provided by draft law No. 10399
The main provisions of the draft law are:
A significantly new approach to budgetary financing of higher education in terms of planning and forecasting the needs of the labor market is proposed. The obsolescence of the current system of state procurement of specialists is clear: its design is based on the assumption that the state predicts and plans the needs of the labor market in all specialties for years to come. In today's conditions, such forecasting is possible (and desirable), but it is not effective for everyone without the exception of specialties.
The draft law provides for a new system of state procurement of specialists for key professions (in particular, doctors, teachers, military personnel, engineers of some specializations, etc.), as well as a mechanism for maximum provision of budget financing for the acquisition of higher education for all willing entrants.We emphasize that the draft law does not refer to the reduction of budget allocations for the training of specialists with higher education. Instead, a more targeted and fair distribution of budget funds is envisaged. Under the new system, today's rigid allocation of the budget/contract, the limit of which can often depend on the thousandth of the competitive score of the ZNO or NMT, should become a thing of the past.
The norms of the draft law provide for an increase in the share of entrants who receive financial support for their studies from the state. Applicants will receive this support in the form of a grant - a clear amount of money that can be used to cover the cost of a contract with a higher education institution.
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The amount of the grant will be determined by the government, but in today's conditions, a range between UAH 15,000 and 50,000 is assumed, which will be distributed according to the results of the ZNO/NMT with adjustment for the specialty coefficient. The most capable entrants will receive a grant that will cover the entire cost of education, while a co-financing mechanism will be involved for others.
The draft law also provides for the transformation of the preferential lending mechanism. In contrast to the current system of such crediting, the operator of issuing loans and their repayment is provided not by the ZVO, but by the bank. Benefits for applicants from vulnerable categories of the population are preserved: they will mainly study at places ordered by the state.
