According to the national Law on Higher Education, there are three types of higher education institutions (HEIs) in Ukraine: universities; academies and institutes; colleges.

A university(університет) is a multidisciplinary or branch-oriented HEI that engages in innovative educational activities at various levels of higher education, including doctoral studies. Multidisciplinary HEIs may be classified as either classical or technical, depending on the branches of study offered. Branch-oriented HEIs may have certain specialisations, such as technological, pedagogical, physical education and sports, humanitarian, theological, medical, economic, law, pharmaceutical, agrarian, artistic, and cultural. HEIs conduct fundamental and/or applied research and are leading scientific and methodological centres in the country, region and abroad.

An academy(академія)and aninstitute (інститут) are branch-oriented HEIs that engages in innovative educational activities, offering first and second-cycle programmes in one or more branches of study. They may have certain specialisations, such as technological, technical, pedagogical, theological, medical, economic, law, pharmaceutical, agrarian, artistic, and cultural. They also may offer third-cycle programmes in certain specialities, conduct fundamental and/or applied research, and are leading scientific and methodological centres in the country and/or region.

Universities, academies and institutes have a developed infrastructure of educational, scientific and scientific-production units. These institutions facilitate the dissemination of scientific knowledge and the implementation of cultural and educational activities.

A college (коледж)is an HEI or a structural unit of a university, academy or institute that carries out educational activities and offers programmes for Bachelor's degrees (until 2024, colleges also awarded Junior Bachelor's degrees). It conducts applied research and/or creative activities. According to the Law on Higher Education, the status of a college is granted to an educational institution or its structural unit at which the share of higher education applicants for Bachelor and/or Junior Bachelor degree is at least 30% of the total licensed volume.

The national status of the HEI is regulated by the Law on Higher Education. The national status may be granted to a university, academy, or institute, regardless of its form of ownership. In this case, the HEI includes that designation in its official name. The National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance (NAQA) Annual Report for 2019 indicates that, as of the beginning of 2020, 118 HEIs were granted national status. Among them, there were 24 classical, 17 technical, 11 directed by law enforcement agencies, 10 agrarian and artistic, 9 medical, 8 transport, 6 economic and 6 pedagogical, 3 architectural HEIs and 14 other universities. Today, the status of a national university serves primarily representative and status purposes.

Ukraine also has a HEI with research status or research university. To receive this status, a HEI must be a driver for development in certain knowledge branches based on combining education, science and innovation. It promotes the country's integration into the global educational and scientific environment and has acknowledged scientific achievements. The status of a research university can be granted to stimulate scientific, technical and innovative activities and conduct interdisciplinary research.

A research university status is granted to a HEI for a period of five years. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is responsible for awarding, withdrawing and extending the status of a research university upon the proposal of the Central Executive Authority for Education and Science. In order to obtain the status of a research university, an HEI must comply with the following requirements:

• it must have institutional accreditation;

• it must be included in the international rankings of HEIs, as determined by the NAQA;

• it managed to obtain the highest position in at least one scientific field or one of the three highest positions in at least three scientific fields for at least three of the previous five years, based on the results of state attestation for scientific (scientific-technical) activities.

A research university has the following rights:

• to use the word ‘research’ in its name;

to have a priority to receive basic funding for research according to the Law on Scientific and Scientific-Technical Activities(Закон України ‘Про наукову і науково-технічну діяльність’);

• to make final decisions on the awarding of academic titles;

• to independently form one-time specialised academic councils to present the dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The academic councils consist of at least five persons with the appropriate degree, with two members representing other HEIs or scientific institutions. 

A research university also possesses additional rights as outlined in the Law on Higher Education.

The various types of HEIs offer a range of different educational programmes. Depending on the classification criterion, these programmes can be categorised into the following types:

• By the level of higher education: primary (short cycle) level; first (Bachelor's) level; second (Master's) level; third (educational scientific/educational creative) level.

• By the degree of higher education: for the training of Junior Bachelors, Bachelors, Masters, Doctors of Philosophy/Doctors of Arts. Starting from 2024, the admission for a Junior Bachelor's degree is not carried out.

• By the regulatory requirements: educational professional and educational scientific/educational creative. The educational professional programme is developed for the first-cycle (Bachelor's) and the second-cycle (Master's) for applied studies. The educational scientific programme is developed for the second (Master's) with academic direction and includes a research (scientific) component. For the third (educational scientific) level of higher education (scientific), it includes both a research (scientific) and an innovative componens. Educational creative programmes are implemented in the creative postgraduate programme. Such programmes offer an opportunity to obtain a degree of the Doctor of Arts.

• By compliance with quality standards:

1. Accredited that have national and/or international accreditation;
2. Not accredited including new programmes without any graduates yet;
3. Certified with certificates of conformity from Ukrainian and/or international professional organisations and/or certification/qualification centres, certificates from employers;
4. With internal documents of recognition and/or quality assessment. They include conclusions of international or Ukrainian independent expertise, conclusions of supervisory and management boards, conclusions of employers, etc.

• By the degree of compliance with the tasks of teaching persons with special educational needs: adapted for teaching persons with special educational needs, taking into account the limitations to their life caused by their health status and individual capabilities, and non-adapted. Special needs are not limited to disability. For example, higher education students with children may need additional support.

• By models of educational process organisation:

1. Traditional model of organising the educational process with direct contact between teachers and students in classrooms;
2. Distance model with an individualised process of educational activity for students, mainly through indirect interaction of remote participants in the educational process in a specialised environment;
3. Blended model with contact classes of teachers with students or during the student's independent study, educational interaction in the virtual learning environment of the university, and the use of other technologies, services, and platforms (e.g., Google Classroom, Moodle, Microsoft Teams, etc.), if necessary.

• By affiliation (place of implementation): implemented in one university unit; inter-institutional/inter-faculty, implemented in parallel in two or more university units; joint, implemented by the university in full or in part with other organisations, including foreign ones.

• By the form of education: institutional (full-time, daytime, evening, part-time, distance, network) and dual education. The educational programme for institutional forms of education must be identical for the model of training, the list of courses, the amount of workload, assessment and individual assignments. They should take into account the amount of classroom classes and individual assignments, and the schedule of the educational process. Full-time students participate in dual studies using on-the-job training at enterprises, institutions and organisations to acquire a certain qualification. On-the-job training should amount from 25% to 60% of the total volume of the programme depending on a contract. For dual-form programmes, a separate educational programme is developed that covers the entire period of study and must meet the requirements for the duration of practical training for this type of education. It includes a schedule of the educational process, particularly the alternation of periods of study at the university and at the workplace (e.g., Regulations on educational programmes of higher education of Sumy State University, in Ukrainian: Положення про освітні програми вищої освіти Сумського державного університету). 

• By subjects of study: for one subject area or interdisciplinary. Interdisciplinary educational (educational and scientific) programmes (IEESPs) involve the acquisition of knowledge that is on the border of knowledge branches, specialities and/or belongs to several specialities, which determine its subject area.

IEESPs of higher education are developed according to several regulations:

• the Law on Higher Education (Закон України ‘Про вищу освіту’),

• the List of Knowledge Branches and Specialities in which Higher Education Applicants are Trained(Постанова Кабінету Міністрів України ‘Про затвердження переліку галузей знань і спеціальностей, за якими здійснюється підготовка здобувачів вищої освіти’),

• the Requirements for Interdisciplinary Educational (Educational and Scientific) Programmes (Наказ Міністерства освіти і науки України ‘Про затвердження Вимог до міждисциплінарних освітніх (наукових) програм’).

IEESPs must comply with the requirements for the creation of educational programmes in a knowledge branch, two knowledge branches or a group of specialities. These are listed in the duly approved higher education standards (HESs).

Information about the relevant fields and specialities is indicated in the certificate on higher education, issued upon completion of the programme, as an element of the description of educational qualification. The content of the interdisciplinary educational programme must correspond to the subject area defined by these branches and specialities.

The programme is considered interdisciplinary if the number of educational components in credits of the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) correlated with the relevant specialities (branches) that define its subject area is nearly the same. In case of dominance of one of these components, the programme should be attributed to the relevant speciality (branch) and not considered interdisciplinary.

An interdisciplinary educational (scientific) programme may be created involving all branches and specialities in the subject area. The exceptions, outlined in the List of Specialities, Obtaining a Degree in Which is Required for Access to Professions Subject to Additional Regulation (Наказ Міністерства освіти і науки України ‘Про затвердження Переліку спеціальностей, здобуття ступеня освіти з яких необхідне для доступу до професій, для яких запроваджено додаткове регулювання’).