Some Ukrainian students return amid push to avoid brain drain

Ukrainian universities have turned to mergers and campus modernisation projects in an attempt to boost enrolment numbers amid fears that many of the thousands of students and academics pushed abroad by the war will never come back.

“Brain drain is one of the biggest challenges our country is facing,” said Mykola Trofymenko, Ukraine’s deputy minister of education and science, who spoke to Times Higher Education from Kyiv. “It is a national security-level challenge.”

Many of Ukraine’s 120 state universities operate close to the country’s front lines. Last year, more than 340 educational facilities in the country were damaged or destroyed as the war raged on, according to Unicef. Trofymenko said even his own workplace of the Ministry of Education and Science had not been spared from Russian shelling. “One side of the building has no windows,” he said.

Demographic shifts over the past four years have led to a sharp decline in the number of university students. About 20 per cent of academic and research staff have been forced to take refuge abroad and many others who remain in the country are no longer engaged in higher education and research, according to the European University Association.  

“Our [higher education] system was formed between 2000 and 2015, when we had more young people. Now in the conditions of war, so many people have fled,” Trofymenko said.

In response to a shrinking student and staff population, Ukraine has merged 20 of its universities into 11 institutions to consolidate resources. Trofymenko said universities that form strong clusters by merging can receive $1.5 million (£1.1 million) from The World Bank to buy research equipment. So far, 10 institutions have benefited from the programme. 

“The goal of the investment is to keep young people inside the system and inside the country and inspire them to enter Ukrainian universities,” he said.

The initiative has helped bring new and modern research equipment into universities, Trofymenko added, pointing to 3D bioprinters producing skin and organs for wounded soldiers in underground labs as an example. “Our science is continuing to produce new knowledge underground. It’s challenging but also inspiring,” he said. There are also plans for a new underground campus this year at the Zaporizhzhia National University.

Trofymenko said more efforts were under way to encourage young people to stay in the country. Over the next several years, the government will renovate 10 university campuses. Staff salaries were also raised by 30 per cent, with another 20 per cent planned for this year, he added.

There are already signs of early improvement. Trofymenko said there were more students enrolled in Ukrainian universities in 2025 compared with the previous year, with hybrid courses allowing those abroad to continue studying while maintaining ties with Ukraine. The number of first-year entrants was about 5,000 higher in 2025 compared with the previous year, showing that demand for higher education is growing. 

“Our universities are carrying out research under the shelling. Sometimes our teachers are teaching students online on a laptop while in gas stations because they do not have electricity at home. This is an example of Ukrainian resilience,” he said.

Universities have also become a lifeline for communities. Many serve as shelters, providing warmth in the harsh winter, food and charging stations for students, staff and their families.

“In these challenging times, universities are much more than just education and research. They have become places of stability, where people can receive help, and they help communities tackle challenges,” he said.

One of these challenges is reintegrating Ukraine’s 1 million veterans. “They have a huge demand for education. Universities are developing short-term courses and organising different programmes to help them reintegrate into civilian life,” he added.

But the question of whether displaced students and academics will return still looms large. Trofymenko, who previously served as the rector of Mariupol State University, said that more than 200,000 residents fled the city of Mariupol after it was taken by Russian forces. They are now scattered around the world, finding jobs, buying homes and were “probably not coming back”, he added. “It’s very difficult to start something from nothing.”

Looking ahead, Trofymenko said he hoped those living abroad would learn new skills that could help shape Ukraine’s future. “We hope that this experience of having a huge number of people studying and living abroad will mean they will be a source of new knowledge and inspiration for the development of Ukraine.”