Which Ukrainian universities received the most applications from prospective students in 2025?

In 2025, Ukrainian applicants submitted over a million applications to higher education institutions, choosing both capital and regional universities. Find out which universities proved to be the most popular

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The 2025 admission campaign in Ukraine is coming to an end, and we already know which universities are the most popular among applicants. According to Serhiy Babak, head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Education, Science and Innovation, Ukrainian applicants this year demonstrated a wide range of choices, giving preference to both leading universities in the capital and strong regional educational institutions.

Popularity is distributed between the capital and the regions

As the MP noted, in 2025 there is no single ‘centre of gravity’ where the majority of graduates would like to study. Applicants are actively submitting documents not only to Kyiv, but also to Lviv, Kharkiv, Chernivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk and other cities. This trend demonstrates growing confidence in the quality of education in regional higher education institutions.

If we consider the main category of applicants — school leavers applying for bachelor's degrees — the leaders in terms of the number of applications submitted are:

1. Ivan Franko National University of Lviv — approximately 44,000 applications.

2. Lviv Polytechnic National University — 41,769 applications.

3. Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv — 34,120 applications.

4. Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (KPI) — 28,384 applications.

5. State Trade and Economics University — 22,781 applications.

6. Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University.

7. Vasyl Stefanyk Carpathian National University (formerly Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University).

8. Vadym Hetman Kyiv National Economic University.

9. Vasyl Karazin Kharkiv National University.

10. Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University.

It should be noted that some universities traditionally have high competition for humanities and law programmes, while technical universities often lead in the number of applications for engineering and IT programmes.

Admission to university is not only about choosing a speciality, but also about legal nuances that can play a key role. For Ukrainians, Visit Ukraine offers the services of lawyers specialising in education: assistance with submitting documents and explaining admission rules.

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Admission campaign in figures

In total, in 2025, Ukrainian universities received over 1 million 138 thousand applications from applicants. Of these, about 800 thousand were for bachelor's programmes. This exceeds last year's figures, indicating a growing interest in higher education in the country.

As a reminder, each applicant could submit up to 15 applications for different specialities, of which no more than five could be for state or regional (budget) places.

How to prepare for admission

For many applicants, preparing for admission was accompanied by serious stress, especially given the competition and limited budget places. Experts advise applicants to think through their strategy for submitting documents in advance and to pay attention to preparatory courses that help systematise knowledge and fill gaps before the National Multidisciplinary Test (NMT) or the External Independent Testing (EIT).

This year, many graduates took advantage of online courses and individual preparation programmes, which increased their chances of successful admission.

By the way, for foreigners who want to study in Ukraine, the services of immigration lawyers are available — assistance in obtaining visas, residence permits, study permits and legalisation of documents. This is especially relevant for students from countries where additional documentation is required for admission.

Reminder! Ukrainian students can attend the main innovation exhibition CES 2026 free of charge. We have already told you what you need to do.

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