The State Service of Education Quality of Ukraine is preparing a new cycle of inspections in higher education institutions, focusing on the education of students over 25 years old. According to RBC-Ukraine, the head of the agency, Ruslan Gurak, announced this during a meeting with university rectors. The re-inspection is scheduled for January 2027 and will serve as a response to the sharp increase in the number of such education seekers, as well as violations recorded during the service's previous checks.
Sevenfold Increase Over Five Years of War
According to Gurak, over five years of full-scale war, the number of students over 25 in Ukrainian universities has increased approximately sevenfold. While in the 2021/2022 academic year there were about 30,000 such students, today, according to the service, there are already 217,770. In some universities, the head of the agency noted, students over 25 account for up to 98% of the total student body, which, in his assessment, requires special attention to the organization of the educational process.
What Previous Checks Revealed
Previous inspections by the State Service of Education Quality, according to Gurak, revealed numerous violations in the enrollment, training, and assessment of students over 25. This very list of problems—from admission to final certification—will become the main subject of the re-control. This is partly due to the fact that a significant portion of such students enter universities against the backdrop of mobilization restrictions, making the issue of the quality and authenticity of the educational process sensitive for the higher education system as a whole.
January 2027: Re-control and Requirements for Rectors
In January 2027, the service plans to re-verify how the education of students over 25 is organized in universities. In addition to the scheduled check, Gurak urged rectors to independently monitor the learning outcomes of such students during the current session to record deviations in academic performance and training quality before centralized control is carried out. Thus, the agency intends to build a two-tier system: continuous monitoring by universities and periodic external audits by the state service.
Context: Record Enrollment and Deferment Motive
The announcement of inspections comes against the backdrop of record enrollment figures: this year, 226,932 students entered bachelor's programs at universities, which is 31,770 more than last year, of which 64,625 people will study on a state-funded basis. Previously, Minister of Education Andriy Butenko stated that Ukraine would strengthen control over students aged 25 and older to identify cases of enrollment solely to obtain a mobilization deferment. Statements by the agency and ministry leadership indicate that the topic of students over 25 is becoming one of the priority areas for monitoring the quality of higher education in 2026–2027.
