Milovanov’s rating: KSE, UCU and Mohylianka “lead Ukrainian higher education”
22 September 2025 13:02
According to former Minister of Economy and President of KSE Tymofiy Mylovanov, there are three universities in Ukraine that can be considered leaders in higher education: KSE, Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), and NaUKMA (Mohylianka). He announced this on Facebook, reports
“We compete for talent and results. They are wonderful and we love them,” Milovanov said.
He explained that a leader for him is someone who changes and develops, tries new things and grows:
“These three universities are leaders. There are other wonderful, strong, worthy universities. They are bigger. It is more difficult for them to change and respond to the challenges of the world. I am not talking about them here.”
This summer, KSE held a summer school on game theory with UCU, and Milovanov added that he wants to cooperate with Mohyla Academy as well.
“Our desire to buy them does not interfere with our desire to cooperate,” he emphasized.
According to Milovanov, after acquiring the Obolon campus, KSE does not have enough resources to buy other universities, as the facility’s renovation alone would cost about $24 million.
Milovanov also compared the three universities in terms of style and character:
- Mohylianka – tradition, history, culture;
- UCU – church and a bit of elitism;
- KSE is a “bully startup disruptor” that wants to change everything.
At the same time, he believes that all of them are united by international top teachers, academic integrity, active students, and impact on society through research and partnerships.
Milovanov provided data from the 2025 admission campaign:
- KSE: 2,813 applications, 953 enrolled, 61% of students studying for free; average bachelor’s degree score – 168.18, master’s degree – 168.19.
- UCU: 1,345 applications, 483 enrolled, average grade point average 171.4; 46% of students received financial support. UCU was also recognized as the “Best IT University 2025” by DOU.
“We are very happy for UCU, they are great, and we want to become better when we see their success,” he said.
As reported by
According to him, it could cost between $40-50 million.
The Ministry of Education and Science responded and said that “Ukrainian legislation does not provide for the privatization of state universities.”
The KSE, on the other hand, said that they were still “preliminarily analyzing” the likelihood and feasibility of merging with NaUKMA.
