Ministry of Education and Science agrees cooperation with universities: how much funding is planned in the 2027 budget

Photo: © Еспресо.TV

The Ministry of Education and Science has agreed on systematic cooperation with higher education institutions. The parties’ representatives signed a corresponding memorandum. Among the issues requiring joint work is the funding of universities provided for in the draft State Budget for 2027. This was reported by Minister of Education and Science Andrii Butenko.

“We signed a memorandum that will define the mechanisms for regular interaction, joint development of proposals and preparation of decisions for the development of higher education. This work will be coordinated on the Ministry’s side by Deputy Minister Mykola Trofymenko,” he said.

Funding

According to the minister, the draft State Budget for 2027 provides for:

• UAH 28.4 billion — for training specialists and the operation of higher education institutions;
• UAH 9.4 billion — for academic scholarships;
• UAH 24.2 billion — for science and innovation overall, of which UAH 9.7 billion is under the Ministry’s programmes.

“We discussed the financial stability of universities, remuneration, utility costs and the needs of research activity,” the minister noted.

Admission campaign

The minister also summed up the results of this year’s admission campaign.

“This year 237,181 applicants were enrolled in the first year of bachelor’s and integrated master’s programmes — 16.1% more than last year. And the number of applications for 40 civilian specialities with special state support grew by 33.4%,” he said.

Other issues include improving admission rules, cutting unnecessary procedures and preparing to implement the “Winter Admission” programme — “An Open Path to Higher Education”.

The minister proposed that universities organise enrolment in preparatory departments in two waves. The first is planned to start in late November or from 1 December. This should give young people an additional opportunity to make up for educational losses and prepare for admission.

Support for veterans

Separately, the parties discussed state support for veterans and their families. In particular, they talked about the availability of contract-based education, the organisation of work of academic and teaching staff and the funding of academic publications.

“Separately, I stressed the need to ensure integrity in admission and study and to counter cases of using student status to unlawfully obtain a deferment from mobilisation. At the same time, all decisions must be made on the basis of facts and with respect for the lawful rights of students,” the minister added.

We recall that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine supported the draft State Budget for 2027 in the first reading. The document was drawn up taking into account the realities of the full-scale war and the state’s key needs for next year. 239 MPs voted for the decision.

Source: ZN.UA, https://zn.ua/ukr/ECONOMICS/mon-domovilosja-z-universitetami-pro-spivpratsju-skilki-koshtiv-peredbachili-u-bjudzheti-2027.html