A USETI Alliance representative consults prospective students on testing.

THE CHALLENGE

The Government of Ukraine (GOU) and the Ukrainian public acknowledge that corruption in higher education has become a serious impediment to the country’s economic, political, and social development.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

• A sustainable, strengthened external testing system more capable of independently and transparently developing and implementing secure tests that meet international standards;
• A secure legislative and regulatory policy basis for testing and higher education admissions;
• A sustainable, high level of public support for equal access to Ukrainian higher education.

USETI Alliance Phase II offers a unique opportunity to secure equal access to Ukrainian higher education through comprehensive industry-standard testing; new direct links to academic programs that will become the foundation for educational skills assessment in Ukraine; a strong test administration management team maintaining integrity and quality control; and a sophisticated and committed community of test-data consumers.

OVERVIEW

The Ukrainian Standardized External Testing Initiative (USETI) Alliance makes fair and transparent the process of student selection and placement in Ukraine's higher education system.

OUR PROGRAM

For years, college admissions in Ukraine were determined primarily on the basis of family contacts or their ability to pay.  In partnership with the government of Ukraine, national universities, Ukrainian civil society, and others, USAID took steps to improve the admissions process for Higher Education Institutions to give chance for every young Ukrainian the same opportunity to attend university, helping the nation unlock its economic, political, and social potential.

In 2007, USETI was established as part of the Millennium Challenge Corporation Threshold Country Program. The main goal of USETI was to target corrupt practices associated with admissions to Higher Education Institution (HEIs) by introducing standardized external testing as a mandatory criterion for university admissions.  In 2009 and 2010, USAID and its partners expanded their efforts by forming the USETI Legacy Alliance, bringing more partners into the effort to improve higher education, including major private sector donors.  By the end of 2016, about 1.9 million students will have been accepted to university programs based on the merits of their preparation and knowledge, as reflected in their standardized external testing performance.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

• With USAID assistance, the Ukrainian Center for Education Quality Assessment restored its IT operational system in time to begin its scheduled online registration and for the 2016 standardized test.
• Standardized testing brought equality to applicant evaluation and greatly reduced opportunities for corruption. The Alliance directly benefited Ukraine’s more than 1,100 HEIs and affiliates, many of which are finally addressing issues of quality.
• According to the results of 2013 National Polls, 53 percent of Ukrainians agreed that standardized external testing enables gifted children to enter any HEI, even the most prestigious (up from 40 percent in 2010) and the same percentage of respondents supported external testing results as the key criterion for HEI admissions. (up from 49.5 percent in 2012);
• The USETI Alliance supports the Center for Educational Policy, which developed and maintains a reporting system for standardized external testing (SET) results: KONKURS, which logged over 100 million site visits in 2012.