Golda Vynogradska, president of the Public Union “International Movement ‘PRORYV’”, Doctor of Philosophy in the field of education, expert in public-private partnership, innovation and human capital development, adviser to the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine in 2016-2021
Ukraine speaks a lot about the search for new drivers of economic growth. In public discussion, the agricultural sector, metallurgy, IT, the defense industry, energy and logistics are most often mentioned. At the same time, another area that is capable of bringing in foreign currency revenues, forming long-term international ties and strengthening Ukraine’s influence in the world remains almost outside attention. This is education.
Education has long ceased to be only a social sphere. For many countries, it has become a full-fledged export of services, an instrument of soft power and part of economic policy. The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, Türkiye and China have for years been using international education not only as a source of income, but also as a way of forming a network of future partners, managers, entrepreneurs, doctors, engineers and opinion leaders.
Ukraine also has a basis for this. Hundreds of higher education institutions operate in the country, strong scientific schools are preserved, there is experience in training foreign students, teaching potential and the international reputation of Ukrainian specialists. Before the full-scale war, Ukraine steadily ranked among the notable players in the international education market. In 2019-2021, about 76-80 thousand foreign students from more than 150 countries studied at Ukrainian higher education institutions. The largest centers were Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia, while among the key countries of origin of students were India, Morocco, Nigeria, Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Turkmenistan and China.
After 2022, the situation changed sharply. The war, security risks, the closure of air traffic and the complication of entry procedures led to a significant reduction in the number of foreign students. In 2023, approximately 51.7 thousand foreign students remained in Ukraine, that is, almost 30 thousand fewer than before the full-scale invasion. As of the beginning of 2026, more than 21 thousand foreign students from 127 countries were studying at Ukrainian higher education institutions, and in 2025 about 5.5 thousand new students were enrolled, which slightly exceeded the 2024 figure.
These figures indicate not only losses, but also preserved potential. Demand for Ukrainian education has not disappeared completely even under conditions of war. The problem lies elsewhere: the model of attracting foreign students has largely remained pre-war.
Traditionally, the system was built around the physical arrival of the student in Ukraine even before the start of full-fledged studies. Such logic worked in peacetime, when there were flights, understandable logistics, relatively stable visa procedures and a predictable environment. Today it has become one of the main limitations.
A student of the 21st century expects digital admission, remote communication with the university, transparent verification of documents, flexible formats of study, clear procedures and service that meets international standards. Instead, the Ukrainian system still largely relies on paper procedures, complex routes of approvals and physical presence as a basic condition of access to education.
Therefore, what hinders Ukraine is not only the war and not so much the quality of education, but the outdated architecture of access to it. The full-scale war did not destroy the international education market for Ukraine, but revealed the weak point of the old model: “first come to Ukraine, and then enroll.”
The paradox is that Ukrainian universities are competing ever more sharply among themselves for a market that is itself shrinking. Therefore, the issue of educational export can no longer be considered as a problem of individual higher education institutions. It is gradually becoming a matter of the resilience of the entire higher education system of Ukraine.
The Strategy for the Development of Higher Education in Ukraine for 2022-2032 was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on February 23, 2022, on the eve of the full-scale invasion. The document defines the general directions of modernization of the sector, but the export of educational services has not yet been formalized as a separate state policy.
In particular, Ukraine lacks systematic international marketing as an educational direction, simplified procedures for foreign students, full-fledged digital admission, a transparent model of working with international educational agents, defined priority markets, the “study online first, arrive later” model, as well as quantitative targets for attracting foreign students and foreign currency revenues from educational services.
This means that educational export has not yet become the same state priority as attracting investment, supporting the export of goods or promoting Ukrainian technology companies abroad. However, it is right now that Ukraine could rethink this policy.
First, it is worth digitalizing the admission of foreign students and transferring the initial procedures online as much as possible. This is not about the formal existence of websites or email, but about a full-fledged service model: submission of documents, consultations, verification, communication with the university and support of the student until the moment studies begin.
Second, Ukraine needs a model of phased integration of a foreign student. In current conditions, a logical formula could be one under which the student begins studies online, undergoes language, academic and administrative adaptation remotely, and physical arrival in Ukraine takes place later, when security and logistical conditions allow it.
Third, it is worth defining priority markets. For Ukraine, the countries of Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the post-Soviet space have traditionally been important. But competition for a student from India, Nigeria, Morocco, Egypt or Türkiye is much tougher today than it was ten years ago. Therefore, the promotion of Ukrainian education must be targeted, professional and constant.
Fourth, it is necessary to develop English-language programs and educational niches where Ukraine can have a competitive advantage. These may include medicine, engineering, IT, agricultural technologies, infrastructure recovery, energy, cybersecurity, defense technologies, crisis management, public administration and post-war reconstruction. Ukrainian experience in many of these areas already has international value.
Fifth, coordination is needed between the state, universities, business and international partners. A separate university cannot independently build the national brand of Ukrainian education. This requires coordinated policy, common standards, transparent rules, international promotion and clear responsibility of each participant.
Every foreign student is not only tuition fees. This is a future specialist who can maintain a connection with Ukraine for decades. This is a potential partner of Ukrainian business, a doctor, an engineer, an official, a scientist or an entrepreneur who studied in Ukraine, understands its culture and can become part of a broader international network.
This is exactly how soft power works in the field of education. Countries that have learned to export education receive not only foreign currency revenues. They form alumni communities, professional ties, reputation and long-term presence in regions where political or economic influence cannot be created quickly.
Ukraine already has a significant part of the necessary potential. The question is not about creating something fundamentally new, but about adapting rules and services to the realities of the 21st century and the conditions of war.
Therefore, the development of educational export, the digitalization of procedures and the simplification of foreign students’ access to Ukrainian education should become the subject of broad professional discussion with the participation of universities, the state, employers and international partners.
Ukraine competes for investment, export contracts, international assistance, technologies and markets. It is time to begin competing just as seriously for students as well.
In the 21st century, countries compete not only for resources, but also for talent, knowledge and human capital. And it is quite possible that one of Ukraine’s most valuable export products of the future will be not only goods or technologies, but specialists trained by the Ukrainian education system.
