350+ students admitted and awarded $94,000,000+ in full scholarships
UGS is a results-focused organization. Since 2015, we have facilitated the placement of 350 Ukrainian students from modest backgrounds into top boarding schools and colleges on full scholarships (i.e., covering tuition as well as room & board). Over these eleven years, we grew our applicant pool from 100+ to 750+. 40% of applications come from students in small Ukrainian towns and villages. We scaled the number of scholars we support yearly from 10+ to 60+, determined to drive the critical mass of well-educated Ukrainians. Our Academic, Boarding school, and College advising teams played a critical role growing our community of Mentors and building strategic partnerships with top boarding schools and colleges. In addition to school placements, we have partnered with 40 Ukraine-based employers to facilitate 8-week summer internships for our scholars. To take the UGS impact beyond our organization, we also support and encourage our alumni in building their own entrepreneurial ventures, impacting new communities worldwide.
Example partner schools and colleges
Matriculations to boarding schools and colleges (сumulative number of UGS students admitted since 2015)
Boarding Schools
Colleges
UGS Repatriation Program
Internships in Ukrainian companies as a tool for maintaining ties with Ukraine
The basis of the UGS Repatriation Program is the organization of internships for UGS finalists studying abroad. UGS has already secured 435+ internships for 370+ students. Most internships take place during the summer holidays and are conducted in various formats: online, offline, or hybrid. These internships serve as a bridge to leading Ukrainian companies, allowing students to gain practical experience and stay up to date with current events in Ukraine. As a result, internships open up a valuable path for finalists to return and find employment in Ukraine, often in companies with which they are already familiar.
UGS Internship Program 2025: Key Achievements
UGS Internship Program 2025: Summer Interns’ Journeys presents the stories of our student interns, their host organizations, and the meaningful experiences that connect Ukrainian students abroad with opportunities back home.
Partnerships with business, civil society, and the public sector
The department actively builds and develops partnerships by engaging companies and organizations in internship programs, professional events, and joint initiatives. This creates opportunities for the professional development of finalists and strengthens the UGS alumni community.
UGS partners with the signed Memorandum of Cooperation
Are you a Ukraine-based employer and would like to offer an internship to our students? Please email onechay@ugs.foundation.
Financial support through the Social Impact Internship Fund (SIIF)
In addition to organizing internships, the UGS Repatriation Department supports students through the Social Impact Internship Fund (SIIF), which provides stipends and travel coverage for unpaid offline internships in Ukraine, ensuring equal opportunities and supporting initiatives that foster economic, social, and environmental development.
UGS Ukraine Impact Fellowship Program
The UGS Ukraine Impact Fellowship Program is a pilot initiative that connects talented youth from the United States with high-impact internships in Ukraine. The program aims to engage young professionals in working in Ukraine to support the country’s recovery and reconstruction.
Ventures started by UGS community
PrivacySpy
PrivacySpy is an open project, featured by New York Times in 2020, that uses a consistent rubric to grade privacy policies on a ten-point scale. PrivacySpy is co-founded by Igor Barakaiev, UGS '16, Andover '20, Stanford '24.
Movadex
Award-winning software development and design agency that offers digital services to startups around the globe since 2018. Movadex merges art and business, offering a groundbreaking software outsource model at the highest quality standards. Movadex is co-founded by Salome Mikadze, UGS '15, Emma Willard '18, Georgetown '22.
YNGO PLUS
Youth NGO “PLUS” is a non-profit organization that provides free educational opportunities to Ukrainian youth. YNGO PLUS hosts webinars and online courses on different topics — from “writing perfect CV” to “robotics in Ukraine.” The team recently won a grant from InScience and UNICEF to create a board game that develops critical thinking and crisis-management skills. Co-founded by Nathan Syvash UGS ’20, Dartmouth ’25 and Liliia Alieksanova UGS ’20, Babson ’25.
ENGin
ENGin is a peer to peer English language program that connects fluent English speakers to Ukrainian students for free weekly online speaking practice sessions. ENGin was founded by Katerina Manoff, the former head of college counseling at UGS, with the support of many members of the UGS community.
Snake Island Institute
Snake Island Institute is an independent Ukrainian organization strengthening the U.S.-Ukraine security partnership through strategic advocacy and diplomacy, battlefield-validated analytics, defense tech testing and innovation acceleration, and defense technonlogies communications. Snake Island Institute is co-founded by Maryna Hrytsenko, UGS ‘18, Vassar '23.
Reports
Interactive list of scholars
YouLead U.S. exchange program finalist 24, delegate at Halifax International Security Forum in Canada, winner of the Klitschko foundation programs, Goethe-Institut courses alumni 25, co-founder of Global Youth NGO, Vice-President at Zaporizhzhia Interact Club, member of the European Youth Parliament, ui/ux designer, volunteer, winner of the all-Ukrainian award for public activity.
Founder of the volunteer project 'English Club for Kids,' karate athlete, and guitarist. Winner of regional Olympiads in Ukrainian Literature and Math. Winner of Ukrainian and European karate competitions. Passionate about languages and leadership.