EXPORT OF EDUCATIONAL SERVICES AS A MEANS OF DIVERSIFYING SOURCES OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
The processes of globalization and the integration of national economies into the global economic system have led to the emergence and active development of a new form of international economic relations in the form of the export of educational services. Since the late 1940s, education has evolved into a global business and has now become one of the leading sectors of the world economy and the trade in services. Countries that export higher education, in addition to deriving significant economic benefits from educating international students, seek to strengthen their country’s prestige, enhance its geopolitical standing in the global community, and promote the development of their entire national education system, which, in the context of the global economy, must meet international quality standards. In recent years, the domestic market for educational services has not yet evolved into a fully-fledged economic sector capable of generating competitive human capital. The higher education market in Ukraine faces a number of challenges, the most pressing of which are: insufficient funding, declining educational quality, the disconnect between education and scientific research, and the slow pace of integration into the European and global intellectual landscape. Under these conditions, developing the export potential of Ukrainian higher education must become one of the most important strategic directions for implementing state policy in the field of education. Analysis of recent studies and publications. The impact of globalization processes on the development of the global market for educational services and the problems of financing the education sector are attracting increased interest and are being studied by many scholars.
Given that higher education is the foundation of societal development, issues regarding the improvement of its funding sources have remained relevant throughout the entire history of higher education. Recognizing the significant contributions of these scholars to research on this issue, we consider it necessary to focus more closely on the development of educational services exports as a method for attracting additional financial resources to the education sector. The purpose of this article is to analyze the export of educational services as a means of diversifying the sources of funding for higher education institutions. Presentation of the Main Research Material. The effectiveness of addressing the country’s socio-economic development challenges depends to a large extent on the availability and utilization of society’s intellectual potential, a significant portion of which is concentrated in the education system. Higher education, as a phenomenon of sociocultural reality, has enormous potential for preserving and accumulating knowledge, spiritual values, and the achievements of national culture; it plays a leading role in shaping societal identity and serves as the driving force behind the economic development of any state. The experience of developed countries confirms that acquiring a high level of knowledge and professional qualifications is not only a prerequisite for the personal development of the population but also a determinant of the quality and competitiveness of human resources, thereby creating opportunities for the economic growth of the state as a whole. Since the capital invested in education, vocational training, and public health accounts for approximately 75% of a country’s wealth, and workers with higher education generate about 56% of GDP, every state and society has a vested interest in quality education and a highly skilled workforce that meets the needs of the country’s social and economic development.
Thus, higher education faces very complex challenges, and only with reliable and stable sources of funding will it be able to fulfill its mission and create conditions for the development of the country’s human potential. An analysis of funding levels for higher education institutions shows that Ukraine faces an extremely acute problem of their dependence on state allocations, which are directed toward training specialists under the state order and conducting research. At the same time, the current state budget deficit and the unsatisfactory level of national economic development do not provide grounds for a significant increase in budgetary funding for the higher education system in the near future. Under these conditions, the diversification of private sources of funding for higher education is playing an increasingly important role.
However, given the decline in corporate sector profits, falling household incomes, and a decrease in student enrollment, diversifying funding sources for Ukrainian universities is significantly complicated. Consequently, in the face of a significant shortfall in state funding, domestic education requires a well-functioning, civilized education market. At the same time, one of the promising directions for the development of educational institutions should be a focus on building and effectively realizing export potential and, on this basis, further integration into the global educational space. Among the main key trends in the development of the global market for educational services that contribute to the intensification of the export of educational products are the following:
- the globalization of the educational services market;
- the consolidation of higher education institutions and the creation of transnational educational corporations;
- the internationalization and harmonization of national higher education systems.