First-Generation Students at Uzhhorod National University: 2025 Entry Cohort

One in six students who began their studies at Uzhhorod National University (UzhNU) in 2025 is the first in their immediate family to enter university. Of the 3,740 students who enrolled in 2025, 82% took part in a university-wide survey, and 16.7% of them identified as first-generation students.

Widening access for these students is part of UzhNU's commitment to UN Sustainable Development Goal 4, Quality Education, which calls for inclusive and equitable education for all. For a university in Zakarpattia, a border region with many rural communities, first-generation entrants are a direct measure of whether higher education reaches families it has not reached before.

How UzhNU identifies first-generation students

UzhNU defines a first-generation student as the first person in their immediate family to enter a university or other higher education institution. Immediate family means parents, grandparents and siblings. Anyone who studied at university counts, even without graduating. Study at a technical college, vocational school or professional college does not count as university study.

The university collected the data through an anonymous online survey of all students who enrolled in 2025. Of the 3,740 students admitted this year, 82% responded, across all faculties and institutes. Students reported their level and mode of study, faculty, gender, and which members of their immediate family had attended university.

Who the 2025 first-generation students are

Of the 2025 entrants who responded, 16.7% are first-generation, 79.2% have a family member who attended university, and 4.1% did not know. Excluding those who did not know, the first-generation share is 17.5%.

First-generation students are present in almost every faculty, from medicine and engineering to languages and the humanities.

19% of first-generation students had studied at another higher education institution before entering UzhNU, and 6% had completed that degree. For many, UzhNU is a second attempt at a degree or a step to a further qualification.

How UzhNU supports first-generation students

UzhNU reaches first-generation students before they apply and supports them through their first year. In 2025 this meant outreach to schools across Zakarpattia, step-by-step guidance through admission, state-funded places for 35% of new entrants, and a psychological service open to every student.

•         Outreach to schools across the region. UzhNU held an online university Open Day on 12 March 2025 and faculty Open Days on 13–15 May. Its “UzhNU – University of Your Opportunities” roadshow visited Mukachevo, Berehove, Khust and Tiachiv and their districts in April. Faculties also visited schools in small towns and villages, including a Romanian-language school in the Solotvyno community, lyceums in Nyzhnia Apsha, Nyzhnie Selyshche and Korytniany, and a Hungarian-language lyceum in Tiachiv. Students on teaching placements ran career guidance sessions in schools throughout Zakarpattia.

•         Guidance through admission. From May to September 2025, a weekly “Q&A for Applicants” on the university’s social media answered questions about programmes, admission rules, places and fees. Dedicated Viber and Telegram channels helped applicants choose a programme and follow the admission process. Applicants with special admission conditions could get free legal advice, including online, and applicants from occupied territories took entrance tests remotely.

•         Financial support. In 2025, 1,322 of 3,740 new entrants (35%) studied on state-funded places. Applicants from preferential categories were moved to vacant or additional state-funded places, and the university continued its student grant support programme. Faculties briefed eligible students on social scholarships, and students from preferential categories had priority for dormitory places.

•         A smooth start in the first year. In September 2025, most faculties surveyed first-year students about their needs and interests. Every student group has an academic mentor, and first-years received an updated Student Handbook, library orientation tours and welcome evenings from September to December. The social and psychological service held consultations with first-year students on adapting to university study.

•         Psychological support. In 2025 the social and psychological service gave over 100 individual and 24 group consultations. Topics included adapting to study and a new peer group, personal crises and relationships with parents. In the autumn of 2025, the YouthHub youth centre also ran group sessions with a psychologist, including one on getting through the exam session, and 10 art therapy sessions.

Next steps

UzhNU will track the 2025 first-generation cohort through to graduation and report their completion rate alongside the entry figures.

The university will repeat the survey each autumn so that first-generation status is recorded for every new cohort. This work contributes to SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) by making higher education open to families who have not had access to it before.