Odessa's universities have remained popular despite regular shelling

The Odesa region ranked among the top three most popular regions for applying to higher education institutions in 2026. Despite the war and regular Russian shelling, prospective students submitted 88,841 applications to local universities.

This is according to an analysis of data from the Unified State Electronic Database on Education conducted by Education.ua.

Overall, this year’s admissions campaign set a record for the past five years. As of August 1, 242,666 applicants had submitted documents for bachelor’s and master’s programs in medicine, which is nearly 17% more than last year. At the same time, the number of applications reached 1,189,960, which is nearly 30% higher than last year’s figure.

<picture></picture>Infographic by Education.ua

The Odesa region ranked third among regions in terms of the number of applications submitted. Only Kyiv, with 279,488 applications, and the Lviv region, with 155,943, ranked higher. The Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions followed the Odesa region.

Analysts note that despite the security situation, Odesa retains its status as one of Ukraine’s major student hubs.

Applicants’ choices are influenced by both the academic reputation of local universities and regional coefficients that increase the competitive score for admission to educational institutions in frontline regions.

The National University “Odesa Law Academy” was among the top ten universities that received the most applications from prospective students. The institution received 19,509 applications and ranked ninth in Ukraine.

For the second year in a row, management remains the most popular major among applicants, attracting over 100,000 applications. Majors in the fields of IT, psychology, economics, and the humanities are also in high demand.

Ірина Глухова