It’s Good Here, But is it Better Abroad?

Friday, 10 September 2010

Changes in the admission campaign, the educational system and paying to study in Ukrainian establishments of higher education (HEIs) are difficult to absorb.   Just as graduates were becoming accustomed to external independent testing (EIT), the Ministry of Education and Sciences proposes reintroducing HEI based entrance exams.  The implementation of the Bologna Process which started several years ago still does not guarantee Ukrainian students that the rest of the world will recognize the diplomas they obtained in their Motherland.  It is difficult to assess the value of such an education.  For these reasons, more and more secondary school graduates seriously consider obtaining their higher education in neighboring countries. 

Paying tuition to study at an HEI in L'viv is quite expensive.  For example, the least expensive Bachelor’s degree in 2010 at the I. Franko, L’viv National University is in Culture and the Arts: the first year would cost 3,000 UAH.  The most expensive majors are Law, Economics and International Relations majors—each costing about 19,300 UAH the first year. 

In the L’viv Polytechnic National University the lease expensive majors are the physics-mathematics majors; the freshmen year for an Applied Physics major will cost 3120 UAH.  The most expensive—Programming Engineer will demand 8400 UAH tuition per year. 

The least expensive bachelor’s degree for Ukrainians at the Danylo Halytskyy L’viv National Medical University is in pharmacy and runs 14,300 UAH a year; the most expensive degree is in dentistry costing 19,700 UAH a year. 

As an alternative to both government funded and tuition based higher education in Ukraine, students explore the possibilities of studying abroad.  One can study free of charge in Europe at state universities in the Czech Republic, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Greece and Hungary.   The biggest hurdle is sufficiently mastering the language of the host country.  The better an applicant knows the language in which she will be studying, the better her chances of being accepted.  The reason for this is that when a person applies to an HEI in a foreign country she must pass the entrance exams in the native language of the country she is applying to study in. 

Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany are the main countries in which Ukrainian students study.  In Poland and Germany an accepted student must find scholarships and grants if she hopes to study without dishing out her own money.  In the Czech Republic higher education at state HEIs is free of charge for foreign students.  Not all is as easy as it sounds, in order to be accepted as a student in the Czech Republic, you need to pass a Czech language exam and the entrance exams which are administered in the Czech language. 

There are two ways to apply to an HEI abroad: independently or through a company which specializes in placing students in foreign universities.  If you are planning on applying independently prepare yourself not only to choose a major and a university, but also to get through all the bureaucracy, from obtaining a visa through purchasing medical insurance. 

It is possible that  in order to receive more specific information about studying in a particular country, the prospective student will need to, either independently or with the help of the embassy, find organizations which will be able to provide the information they are looking for.   If you are planning on using an agency be aware that their services will cost close to 500-1000€.   However, using an agency does have its benefits.  Most agencies offer a broad range of services which begin with submitting documents to the embassy and university through helping arrange the student’s departure, housing and visa extensions. 

Olena Tanchuk 

L’vivs’ka Hazeta (Newspaper)