Why foreigners choose Ukrainian universities – Ministry of Education and Science and “Study In Ukraine” presented a report on the results of the research on the attractiveness of Ukrainian higher education for foreign citizens.
On December 7th, 2020, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine hosted a presentation of the report on the results of marketing research on the attractiveness of Ukrainian higher education for foreign citizens.
The research was conducted by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the State Enterprise “Ukrainian State Center for International Education” of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and Simon Kuznets Kharkiv National University of Economics during July-August 2020, and 451 foreign students studying in Ukrainian higher education institutions too part in it.
“The role of foreign students is very important in the educational process of each educational institution. After all, it is not only prestige and investment in the country’s economy, but also exchange of experience, development of competitive individuals and so on. Therefore, we must fight for a good reputation: ensure high quality education and create comfortable conditions for the arrival, study and leisure of foreign students” – pointed out Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine Andriiy Vitrenko.
Olena Shapovalova, Director of the Ukrainian State Center for International Education of the Ministry of Education and Science, spoke on the details of the research, the issues associated with attracting foreign students to Ukrainian higher education institutions, and recommendations to improve the situation.
“The main competitive advantage that determines the choice of country of study is the ratio of quality and cost” – said Olena Shapovalova.
Thus, according to the research, most students choose Ukraine because of the quality of education, tuition fees and recognition of diplomas at home.
“The main obstacles to increasing the number of foreign citizens are the complexity of paperwork, including obtaining a visa for study, and limited languages of study” – noted Olena Shapovalova.
72.3% of respondents noted the complexity of the visa procedure. This explains the fact that the vast majority of respondents (73.03%) use the services of intermediaries when preparing documents for their arrival to study.
The most popular languages of study are English (58.88% of respondents) and Russian (25.62% of respondents). However, according to her, this does not fully characterize the situation and this aspect still needs further study.
“Despite some difficulties, 52.4% of respondents will recommend studying in Ukraine to their friends. And this is confirmed by the fact that 50.7% of surveyed students came to study because of the recommendations of friends who studied in Ukraine “- underlines Olena Shapovalova.
Taking into account the results of the study, the following measures are highlighted among those proposed:
1) simplification and acceleration of the procedure for obtaining visas for study;
2) increase in size of consular offices in countries that are interested in educational services of Ukrainian universities;
3) ensuring a free choice of language of study for foreign citizens in accordance with the educational capabilities of Ukrainian universities;
4) creation at the state level of an association of graduates of Ukrainian universities for the promotion and popularization of Ukrainian education for foreign citizens;
5) ensuring a high level of quality of educational services with the expansion of the range of educational capabilities of Ukrainian universities in accordance with market demands and technology development.
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