One of the main issues on the agenda of the meeting of the Academic Council of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, which took place on October 7, was the consideration of the results of this year's admission campaign. The first vice-rector of the university Mykhailo Bezuhlyi made a report on its features and results. We publish the main points of his speech.
💥
The university's development strategy is, of course, based on long-term planning. It should be based on objective indicators and goals that we strive for. It is important to take into account the results of our activities and the circumstances in which they are carried out. The results of this year's admission campaign, which will be discussed below, are particularly relevant in this context.
The results of the 2024 admission campaign showed a 13% decrease in the number of applications for the first (bachelor's) level of higher education at our university (slide 1), which generally reflects the general trend in Ukraine. The main explanation for this is a significant decrease in the number of school graduates who took the national multi-subject test and expressed a desire to enter Ukrainian universities. The top four universities in terms of the number of applications have remained stable in recent years. The downward trend in the number of bachelor's degree applications is observed in all leading higher education institutions, however, it is more pronounced in technical universities (Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and Lviv Polytechnic) compared to classical universities (Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and Ivan Franko National University of Lviv).
The maximum volume of state orders over the past five years, three of which were during the period of martial law, has remained virtually unchanged. This is more likely to characterize the tradition of forming admission plans for certain specialties within specific higher education institutions with an emphasis on the regional security situation than it is to implement predictive scenarios of changes in the structure of the Ukrainian economy. The number of applicants recommended for admission to full-time state-funded education has decreased due to the reduction in the volume of state orders in Ukraine. In particular, for technical and IT specialties, the decrease reached 20%, and for humanitarian and economic specialties, it decreased by 2-4 times. For Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, the number of people recommended for state-funded enrollment has decreased by more than 600 people (16.5% on average across the university) compared to last year. We have also seen a significant reduction in the number of state-funded places at IT faculties and in socio-humanitarian and economic specialties. For example, at the Faculty of Management and Marketing, the number of state-funded places has decreased by almost four times, which correlates with the decrease in the volume of state orders in the country as a whole. Similar trends were observed at some other faculties.
It is significant that for certain educational programs in such specialties as “121 Software Engineering” at the Faculty of Informatics and Computer Science and the Faculty of Applied Mathematics, “122 Computer Science” at the Educational and Research Institute of Applied Systems Analysis, “125 Cybersecurity and Information Protection at the Educational and Research Institute of Physics and Technology, 174 Automation, Computer-Integrated Technologies and Robotics at the Faculty of Instrumentation, the university was able to receive the maximum amount of state orders. Despite the gradual decrease in budget funding for bachelor's degree programs in higher education institutions, KPI remains the largest executor of state orders in Ukraine.
This year, the results of enrollment at the expense of individuals and/or legal entities have improved in percentage terms compared to the results of enrollment on the budget. This can be explained, in particular, by the introduction of a system of grants for education. The leaders in terms of the number of such students remain virtually unchanged: FMM, FIOT, FSP, Institute of FTI, Institute of VPI. The number of enrolled students in all faculties for state-funded and contractual forms of education is presented on slide 2.
Summarizing the results of bachelor's degree enrollment, it should be noted that the total number of first-level higher education applicants at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute is gradually decreasing (by 450 people or 8.5% compared to 2023), which is due to both the demographic situation and the outflow of potential applicants who went abroad in previous years. According to forecasts, this trend will continue over the next ten years, which imposes on leading state-owned HEIs, especially technical ones, the requirement to take urgent measures to lobby for specialties with special state support. This support should go beyond declarations and nominal incentives. One of the steps could be to increase the level of scholarships for students in technical specialties, in particular by saving the scholarship fund as a result of the introduction of tuition grants, which has reduced the number of scholarship recipients in Ukraine.
It is worth focusing on the results of the introduction of these grants as an experimental state project. In terms of the number of applications and grants received, Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute is among the four leaders in Ukraine. However, the distribution of grants by specialty is expected to be skewed toward IT and the social sciences. Whether it is worth creating such conditions for obtaining grants for higher education in a country at war and in dire need of engineering personnel, that is, conditions that make it impossible to use grants for admission to technical specialties under contract, is a rhetorical question.
The absolute amount of the grants varies from 15 thousand hryvnias for students with NMT results in two subjects above 150 points (the first-level grant is not used for all specialties) to 32.5 thousand hryvnias for those with NMT results in two subjects above 170 points with the maximum coefficient for the specialty. It is worth noting that among 429 students enrolled on a contract at KPI, the number of recipients of grants from the state is quite significant and ranges from 15% for the FMM to 60% for the FIOT. Every year, the line between financing education at the expense of the state budget and at the expense of individuals/legal entities will be blurred, equalizing and in many cases increasing the difference in cost. Therefore, one of the points of the Academic Council's decision provides for a gradual revision of tuition fees for certain specialties in order to bring the pricing principles closer to market ones.
Unlike the bachelor's program, where the number of applications from applicants has significantly decreased, the situation with the master's program is radically different: the number of applications for admission has increased by 20% (slide 3). This trend is in line with the overall increase in the number of applicants to master's programs across Ukraine. However, before comparing KPI with other universities, it is necessary to find out where these applications for the master's degree come from. It is important to understand whether the applicants are bachelor's degree graduates of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, or whether they came from other higher education institutions, or whether they are graduates of our university from previous years (slide 4).
Like last year, Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute is the third among the universities with the largest number of applicants admitted to the competition. In 2024, the proportion between fixed and maximum enrollment volumes changed. It is most noticeable for faculties and educational and research institutes that provide training in the field of information technology. In terms of the number of recommendations for admission to the state-funded master's program, Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute is also the largest executor of the state order in Ukraine this year (the increase in enrollment compared to 2023 is 12 places or 0.7%). The university retains its leadership position due to a significant number of master's students in the specialties included in the list of “protected” technical and IT specialties.
Enrollment in contractual master's programs decreased at most faculties, except for FIOT, the Institute of VPI and the Institute of FTI. This decrease was significant, sometimes by two and a half times, especially for technical specialties (in the previous two years, admission was possible only on the basis of a motivation letter, without entrance exams). The overall picture of enrollment in master's programs on a state-funded and contract basis (minus 8.4%) is identical to the results of bachelor's programs (slide 5).
Concluding the discussion of the indicators of admission to the master's program, it is worth noting the growing number of enrollees who are not KPI graduates (slide 6). This indicates the demand for our master's programs, which, in our opinion, has signs of sustainability.
