Odessa ranks among the top five educational centers in Ukraine

More than half of the new students will be studying in Odesa and four other major educational centers in Ukraine. In total, more than 1 million students are starting the new academic year at institutions of higher education, nearly 300,000 of whom are this year’s incoming freshmen.

This was reported by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

Odesa is among the top five cities with the highest concentration of first-year students. Together with Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, and Dnipro, these cities account for 57.2% of all newly enrolled students.

Despite the war, demand for education in frontline regions remains high. Competitive admission offers from universities in these regions accounted for 29% of all applications.

More than 1.2 million applications were submitted for bachelor’s programs, as well as for master’s programs in medicine, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine. Based on the results of the admissions campaign, 222,342 applicants were admitted: 70,510 on state-funded spots and 151,832 on tuition-paying spots.

The most popular majors were management, psychology, secondary education, philology, and marketing.

Nearly half of the newly admitted state-funded students —49,475—will study in fields receiving special state support. These include, in particular, the training of teachers, engineers, construction workers, and agricultural specialists.

A total of 215,408 applications were submitted for master’s programs. As of the start of the academic year, 72,489 applicants had been admitted, of whom 28,054 will study under state-funded quotas.

The largest number of students enrolled in master’s programs in psychology, law, secondary education, management, and public administration.

At the same time, starting September 1, academic scholarships for students in higher education and pre-higher vocational education institutions will double. The system of academic grants for contract students also remains in effect.

In 2026, grants will be extended to master’s programs for the first time. Applicants with the highest entrance exam scores will be eligible to receive 27,000 or 40,000 hryvnias per academic year to fully or partially offset the cost of their tuition.

Ірина Глухова