The paper gives an overview of the development of higher education in Ukraine focusing on contemporary education policies and some of the problems the country faces in implementing education reform. It provides brief historical survey of the higher education in Ukraine, past and present education development in the country. It covers policy and structure of the Ukrainian education system and presents key education issues in the country. The research also presents the social and political issues which impact the higher education system and governments’ responses to recent local, regional and global events. The paper mostly focuses on the modern reform of the higher education system in Ukraine. The primary purpose of which was to achieve true quality improvement in higher education and the transformation of Ukrainian educational system to become truly competitive in the European Union. The presentation analyzes the provisions of the new Law on Higher Education which are underpinned by a democratic and pro-European agenda. It follows the progress of the reform of the higher education system in Ukraine, implementation of the Law, significant challenges in its implementation, arising out not only of the long-established nature of the post-Soviet higher education system, but also from the continued war in the eastern region of the country and present Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.