Funding of budget expenditures for higher education of Ukraine

Abstract

The article is dedicated to researching the analysis of funding budget expenditures for higher education in Ukraine in accordance with state-building changes and the decentralization process. It encompasses normative-legal aspects of funding higher education institutions and the formation of funding sources for educational entities in Ukraine. The article identifies indicators of growth in the level of budget expenditure funding for education as a whole, particularly the dynamics of expenditure volumes on education in the consolidated budget of Ukraine from 2017 to 2021. It reveals that the funding of budget expenditures for education does not correspond to the defined indicator of 7 % as stipulated by the Law of Ukraine «On Education». The structure of expenditure in the consolidated budget of Ukraine is analyzed across preschool education, general secondary education, vocational (vocational-technical) education, higher education, and postgraduate education. It is found that the largest share of expenditures in the consolidated budget is allocated to general secondary education, while the smallest level of expenditure in the consolidated budget of Ukraine pertains to vocational (vocational-technical) education. The article examines the structure of expenditures in the consolidated, state, and local budgets of Ukraine for the period 2017 to 2021. It systematically categorizes and distributes expenditures in the consolidated budget of Ukraine according to budget types and outlines financing through the state budget and expenditures carried out from the budgets of rural, township, and urban territorial communities The article identifies current avenues for diversifying funding sources for higher education institutions by introducing mechanisms of educational crediting and utilizing instruments of public-private partnership in the provision / receipt of educational services. The utilization of the public-private partnership mechanism in higher education is proposed, aiming to achieve a new stage of development in the education sector and activate partnership relations between higher education institutions, business representatives, and the government. Measures are suggested to grant financial autonomy to higher education institutions, which will enhance their independence in making managerial decisions at the local level and expand opportunities for collaboration with international partners.

Keywords

• financing
• higher education
• expenditures
• budget