New law hands control over student numbers to government

The Russian Parliament (State Duma) has adopted a law which gives the right to the national government to determine admission numbers in domestic universities and limit the areas of study in which students receive preferential loans.

Previously, fee-paying admissions to Russian universities were controlled solely by the universities’ management. However, that situation will change from 1 September 2025.

According to an explanatory note related to the bill, the law aims to reduce the number of specialists in fields where there is low demand for their skills and to ensure the “technological independence” of Russia.

It is part of an initiative first started by Russian President Vladimir Putin on 2 February aimed at revising the list of specialties in domestic universities and was approved at a meeting of the Presidential Council on Science and Education.

In accordance with the bill, which was approved in the form of amendments to the existing federal law, preferential lending will be provided only for training in a specified list of professions and areas, which will be compiled by the government.

The list will comprise only those specialities that “correspond to the tasks of ensuring technological independence and technological leadership of Russia amid the current geopolitical realities”.

According to the Russian Kommersant business newspaper, Putin also instructed the Ministry of Education and Science to approve the maximum number of commercial or fee-paying places in universities, a decision which, thus far, has always been a responsibility of the universities’ management.

Shortages in healthcare and engineering

Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the State Duma and one of the initiators of the bill, is reported to have said: "At present more than half (56%) of all students in state and private universities study on a commercial basis; 42.5% of them choose economic and legal programmes. At the same time, every fourth preferential loan was issued for training in these specialities.

“However, there is a shortage of personnel primarily in such spheres as healthcare and engineering fields, and it is extremely important for us to train specialists in these areas and to support them with preferential loans."

The same revision is also planned in regard to state-funded places at Russian universities.

Some representatives of the Russian university community have opposed the new initiative.

According to head of the Novosibirsk State University of Economics and Management Pavel Novgorodov, state restrictions on fee-paying admissions to universities will not solve the problem of the shortage of engineering personnel. In his opinion, comprehensive measures are needed, including “balancing the labour market”.

“Those who want to become economists or lawyers, even with a shortage of paid places in universities, will not retrain as engineers,” he said.

Concerns over rise in tuition costs

In the meantime, some independent Russian analysts in the field of higher education say the latest state initiative will make higher education less accessible for Russian citizens and will result in a significant growth in the cost of tuition.

Mikhail Myagkov, CEO of Russian educational company Maximum Education, said that the introduction of any limits on commercial university admissions will inevitably increase competition for places and the cost of tuition.

"The price will increase, including because universities will want to compensate for lost income from the reduction in the number of fee-based students,” he said.

However, according to him, the approved initiative will liquidate some imbalance in the Russian labour market and stimulate the demand for young specialists.

Other analysts, however, believe the imposed restrictions will help to reduce the number of low-quality universities that make money off students and reduce the pressure on teachers.