One of the key characteristics of the modern world is the trend toward the increasing internationalisation of higher education, particularly at the master’s level. More and more universities are entering the international market for education and establishing themselves. Competition for international applicants is becoming increasingly intense, both between countries and within individual universities. International university rankings have contributed to this.
Russia plays a special role in providing international educational mobility. Our country has inherited rich Soviet traditions in terms of educating international students and adapting certain academic disciplines and programmes to the labour markets of various countries and regions. During the Soviet era, tens of thousands of international students studied in our country. Alumni communities of Soviet and Russian universities have emerged as significant social structures in many countries.
Modern Russia is also an active participant in the international education market. Russia’s role in attracting international students and facilitating international educational mobility is growing every year. By a number of indicators, Russia has already surpassed Soviet-era figures for international students. Particularly important is Russia’s role in educating students from Eurasian Economic Union member states, as well as several other post-Soviet countries. A significant competitive advantage for Russia is the provision of special quotas for education through Rossotrudnichestvo. The Russian president has currently set an ambitious goal of increasing the number of international students in Russia to half a million over the medium term.
What are the main challenges facing the Russian educational community in attracting international students today? One of them is the overall geopolitical context. As the division of the world amid current international conflicts has worsened, the Western countries have extended their demonisation of Russia to culture and, in particular, education. The overwhelming majority of joint programmes between Russian and Western universities were discontinued in 2022. There are, however, exceptions. These include, first and foremost, those countries that, although politically part of the West, are geographically located elsewhere. These include South Korea and, to a certain extent, Japan.
At the same time, it can be seen that in recent years, international students from the West have been replaced by students from other regions of the world. Since 2022, many Russian universities have begun actively establishing partnerships with universities in Africa, whereas previously such instances were largely isolated. As a result, the number of African students at Russian universities has increased significantly. Ties with universities in Asian countries, which had already been established, also strengthened significantly.
Separately, it’s worth noting the strengthening of cooperation between Russian universities and their partners in the Eurasian Economic Union, which has also advanced significantly in recent years. In many cases, this involves not only strengthening bilateral contacts but also establishing a multilateral network between universities in EAEU countries. Such initiatives include the Eurasian Universities Consortium and others. As a result, in our view, it is already becoming possible to talk about a trend toward synergy between educational programmes throughout the EAEU.
During these same years, we have also seen a general increase in quotas for education in Russia being provided at the state level through Rossotrudnichestvo. These quotas include both new countries and are increasing their number for those countries where applicants are most eager to study in Russia. Russian Houses abroad are doing a great deal to advise applicants and prepare them for their studies in Russia.
Thus, over the past years, the geopolitical challenge for Russian education in terms of attracting foreign students has been overcome to a sufficiently effective degree.
At the same time, several representatives of alumni associations of Soviet and Russian universities abroad have raised the issue, including at the Valdai Forum, that they have felt increasingly disconnected from the pre-selection process in their countries over the past couple of years. While these associations were previously involved at least at the advisory level, and their opinions on certain applicants were considered, they say the practice is now different. This all relates to the importance of feedback from Russian alumni communities and the constructive role they can play in the recruitment of new applicants to Russian universities.
The next aspect, also related to the current geopolitical situation, concerns the stay of international students in Russia. Russia’s current measures to regulate migration policy also have a certain impact on students. This concerns entry and exit procedures, the registration of people staying in Russia, including electronic registration, and so on. The situation here is different than it was just a couple of years ago. This requires both additional administrative work on the part of universities and dialogue with students to explain the current situation to them, in order to avoid any incidents.
Migration regulations have also played a role in a well-known case involving students from a North African country using Russian student visas for transit to European countries. As a result, a decision was made to restrict visas to all students from that country. This, understandably, had an impact on subsequent student enrolment and visa extensions for students who had already studied in Russia.
Another aspect, also arising from the geopolitical context, is related to the restructuring of higher education in Russia. Following Russia’s withdrawal from the Bologna Process, a policy was announced to replace bachelor’s and master’s degrees with other forms of higher education, such as “basic”, “specialised”, “advanced”, and so on. It should be noted, however, that, judging by official statements, the implementation dates for these new qualifications are constantly being pushed back, from one year to the next. In any case, this could pose a new challenge in attracting international students to Russia. Students will be awarded completely different qualifications from internationally recognised bachelor’s and master’s degrees. For example, no one in the world, including in countries friendly to Russia, understands what an “advanced higher education” degree is.
This, in turn, could cause problems for international graduates of Russian universities related to the recognition of their Russian degrees in their own countries. They would have to explain each time that the “advanced” programme is the same master’s degree, only politically renamed by Russia. Given the potential ambiguity of official regulations, this could cause problems. As a result, students might prefer another country where they can earn a more intelligible master’s or bachelor’s degree.
The next topic is the issue of the language of instruction in Russia, a topic that comes up repeatedly in conversations with people from Asian and African countries. Russia’s strategic focus on promoting the Russian language and education in it is clear. However, for many applicants (not from post-Soviet countries), studying in Russian presents an additional challenge. This is especially true at the undergraduate level, if students haven’t studied Russian beforehand. They are also given only nine months of preparatory courses where they study Russian. University experience (both from the Soviet era and today) shows that in their junior years, a significant number of foreign students lack sufficient Russian language proficiency and therefore are unable to fully master subjects. This is particularly true in engineering and technical disciplines.
Therefore, the question of the feasibility of expanding educational programmes in English in Russia is constantly raised in feedback, both by representatives of alumni associations and potential employers. The latter is especially important in the context of large-scale economic and technological projects proposed by Russia for, say, African countries. And this “in Russia, but not in Russian” approach sometimes provokes downright a priori rejection in the context of the aforementioned strategic course to promote the Russian language. While this may be correct, it ultimately leads to applicants abandoning their studies in Russia. However, a different system—either entirely in English or a mixed one, whereby English is taught in the junior years and, as students gradually master Russian, courses in Russian are also introduced in the senior years—could make Russia a more attractive choice for international students.
Overall, the challenge of global competition in the international education market is quite serious. It is important for Russia to maintain its position in this competitive struggle.
The Valdai Discussion Club was established in 2004. It is named after Lake Valdai, which is located close to Veliky Novgorod, where the Club’s first meeting took place.
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