April 23rd, 2015
According to a recent report by University World News Global Education, the Russian Ministry of Education and Science has announced that it will be closing a number of its universities and university branches by the end of 2016. These institutions are being shut down as part of a federal plan the Russian government has implemented for the development of education during 2016 to 2020. The government’s plan is to establish strong federal universities located in the 10 different regions in Russia.
Here are some highlights on these planned cuts:
1. At present, according to data from the Ministry, there are 593 state and 486 private institutions
2. According to date from the Ministry, the state universities have 1,376 branches and the private universities have 682.
3. Seven million students are attending state and private universities.
4. Two million of the students benefit from state-funded education which is about US$3,500 per student.
5. Number of Russian universities will be reduced by 40% by the end of 2016
6. Number of Russian university branches will be reduced by 80% by the end of 2016.
7. According to Dmitry Livanov, Russian Minister of Education and Science, the number of universities since the collapse of the USSR has increased extensively, especially in the number of private universities, as compared to the USSR period. He is quoted in the University World News Global Education as saying: “Unfortunately, the results of our monitoring showed that the quality of education provided by some of them is very poor.”
8. On March, 2016 the Ministry began conducting quality checks of the universities. Results are due on May 30, 2015.
9. Up to 100 universities will be subject to quality assessments within the new few months.
10. Majority of closures will affect private universities that have been determined to provide poor standards of education.
11. The cuts will also affect some state-owned universities.
12. Some of the closed universities, including their faculty and infrastructure, may be absorbed by other universities that are found eligible to continue their operations.
13. Faculty from the national universities have been promised by the Russian government that their salaries will not be cut and the same provision will apply to scholarships.
14. 53.5% of Russians have university degrees, yet, many Russian students, teachers and employers are dissatisfied with the quality of higher education in the country.
15. According to Education Minister Livanov, some of the institutions on the chopping block behaved as “offices for the sale of certificates that do not have an established training process and qualified teachers.”
Please stay tuned as we await the results of the Ministry’s quality checks mid to late this year.
The Academic Credentials Evaluation Institute, Inc. (ACEI), was founded in 1994 and is based in Los Angeles, CA, USA. ACEI provides a number of services that include evaluations of international academic credentials for U.S. educational equivalence, translation, verification, and professional training programs. ACEI is a Charter and Endorsed Member of the Association of International Credential Evaluators. For more information, visit www.acei-global.org.