Education and Science, Round Table, The Baltic Course No. 27

In Russia the system of private (commercial-type) education has been forming since 1992 and is constantly growing with the average increase rate not less than 5 per cent a year. Most advanced this growth can be seen in commercialization of higher and extended education. For example, the market of management education shows an average 20-30 per cent increase per year.

According to different expert’s estimates, the share of commercial education at present, including commercial-type faculties and chairs in the state universities, makes 60-70% from the total scope of educational services, and the numbers are still increasing. The number of budget-financed student vacancies in universities is very limited and in large Russian cities free education is practically nonexistent.

Increasing critics...

Recently international observers have strongly criticized the Russian higher education sector. Thus, best Russian university-MGU was assigned the score of 76 by the quality of education criteria in the Academic Rating of the World Universities for 2007. The presence of huge share of non-core subjects in educational programs may be mentioned as one of the main disadvantages of the Russian higher education system. The number of tutorials is scarce and far from compliance with the theoretical courses delivered under the same program. The majority of universities have lost contacts with potential employment places. The lack of opportunities to choose the studied disciplines may be mentioned as an additional negative characteristic feature of educational programs running in the universities.

Expensive pleasures

According to the official information available from the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), more than half of present students in the country (approximately 2.5 mln people) pay for their education. The average yearly educational fee is approximately USD 4.5 thousand, with an apparent trend towards further increase. One- or two-year day-time or evening (extramural) MBA programs in the leading Russian universities will cost a student about USD 12-25 thousand.

According to the information available from the National Anticorruption Committee, the “fee” for enrollment into the universities located in the Russian capital averages from USD 20 to 50 thousand. The reduction of budget-financed positions in the universities takes place at the same time with the rise in the cost of higher education. Higher education is becoming an expensive involvement; however the number of university entrants remains the same.

Educational credits in Russia are making its first steps, and its scope is incommensurable neither with the scope of the commercial-type education nor with the demands of the national educational system. According to the statistics, each third young person would like to take an educational loan.

Some banks, both national and foreign, grant educational loans with rather high interest rates (from 15 to 22% a year) with the maturity periods from 1 to 6 years. This is insufficient for the scheme incorporating any provisions for repayment of the loan during the study period. It would be more preferable if the interest rate could be reduced to 10% per annum and the maturity period increased to 10-12 years, with the educational period treated as the incentive period, when only the interest is paid while the amount of the loan is returned after graduation. Loans on such terms remain unavailable for the majority of the Russian university’s students.

Increasing studies abroad

Experts assume that the number of Russian people striving to get education abroad may double in the nearest future. The number of well-off parents ready to pay for their children’s education in foreign schools and universities is constantly increasing. The research conducted by the educational company “Begin Group” showed that a quarter of Russian people plan to send their children to study abroad.

In Russia there is no exact statistics on the number of Russian students studying abroad. According to experts’ estimates in the travel agencies dealing with educational programs, about 30 thousand Russians are leaving the country each year to study abroad.

The United Kingdom and the USA are the most popular educational destinations among the Russians followed by such European countries as e.g. France, Germany, Spain, Finland, and Sweden. The average cost of foreign educational programs in prestigious foreign universities taken by Russian students is USD 10-25 thousand per year.

International experts forecast that by 2020 Russia may enter the top-5 list of leading “demand states” in the world educational market, and the amount paid for education by the Russian students will triple.

While 9 thousand Russian students received universities’ degrees in the United Kingdom in 2003, by 2010 their number will amount to 14.5 thousand. Experts estimate that foreign universities’ profit from Russian students are at approximately 100 mln pounds (the language or short-term educational courses are not included). By 2010 Russian students will spend approximately 300 mln pounds in the British higher education facilities.

Destined to live in Russia

Many Russians believe that a foreign university diploma will pave them the way to a prestigious job. And young people assume that it is better to live outside Russia in more comfortable countries. Most of them are interested in securing a place in a “civilized” world. For example, MGU graduates named 22 countries, as well as the European region in general, as most attractive destinations for immigration.

And the opportunities to get jobs in the EU countries are not so distant apart. Germany plans to receive up to a quarter million immigrants per year. Switzerland remains the country with the highest share of foreign manpower after the Second World War period. Europe is getting aged too fast. Demographers defined that the Old World will have to receive almost 150 mln foreign citizens in the next quarter of the century to preserve the stable growth rate in the European economy.

Professionals’ deficit

The Russian labour market can produce a long list of promising professions, where the deficiency of specialists is clearly seen already at present. According to employment agencies, the credit experts and heads of control and auditing departments are the most valued and demanded specialists in the banking field. Specialists in the IT and communications also enjoy the high demand. It is not by chance that the IT field is deemed to be the most promising area: the growth rate in this sector in Russia makes to approximately 25 per cent a year.

Construction sector has an acute demand of competent head-masters, e.g. in various type of construction works, as well as architects and project managers.

New professions have emerged, and here the lack of specialists is profound: pharmacists, advertisers and personnel managers. There are not so many institutes in Russia that educate pharmacists, and the demand for such specialists is really great. Many institutes run “advertising” and “human resource management” courses, but the majority of employers are rather skeptical about graduates of these faculties. The demand for logistics specialists has grown essentially, and logistics coordinators are the most demanded specialists in this area. For example, there is one third share of vacancies for specialists in logistics in the overall number of vacancies published by the largest Russian employment agency Triza.

People working for employment agencies stated that within the last one or two years a deficiency of engineers specializing in quite different fields emerged in the market. Moreover, the knowledge of English (especially in various professional groups) and the ability to train and re-train in the course of employment has become essential. A specialist with an engineering education may find it difficult to enter a high-class Western company, as the competition for a new vacancy may reach 30 applicants per a vacant place. In this respect the quality of the applicant’s diploma becomes of paramount importance.

Latvian advantage

Latvia, compared to other countries in the European Union, has indisputable advantages in export of higher and extended professional education to Russia. First, Latvia has a common border with Russia, the fact that makes it possible to arrive to the country from Russia quite easy and inexpensively. The comfortable Russian-speaking environment in the majority of large Latvian cities assists a quick and easy adaptation of Russian students to local communities and cultural environment.

Second, upon graduation from the Latvian universities the Russian students receive the EU-approved diplomas, which allow them to extend their education in any European university, however prestigious it may be. Besides, the diploma issued by the Latvian university is more understandable for a European employer, than a diploma of a Russian university, which shall be interpreted and converted into the Western educational system to understand what knowledge and qualification the holder of that diploma received.

Third, recently the quality of many educational programs in Latvia has reached a very good level. According to Professor Tatiana Volkova, Chairman of the Council of Presidents in the Latvian higher educational establishments, Latvia presents good MBA programs, programs in the field of business and finance, from the beginner’s to the masters’ degrees. And it is the specialists in these very fields that enjoy the biggest demand in the Russian market. The cost of education in the bachelor or master programs of the Latvian University (LU) or Riga Technical University (RTU), to name a few, averages USD 3-4 thousand per year, which is even lower than the average annual fee of the Russian universities. The Full-Time MBA program in the RTU will cost EUR 9000 per 2.5 years, which is lower than the cost of similar programs in the leading Russian universities.

Finally, in the course of education in the Latvian university the Russian students will have a good opportunity to get familiar with the ways of conducting business in the EU and the ways the applied specializations (such as technical) are incorporated into the business system of the leading European states.

So, is it possible to attract Russian students to Latvian programs and diploma studies, so that may facilitate their employment in the EU countries?

First of all, in my opinion, the information flow shall be accurately arranged to familiarize the Russian school-graduates, students and their parents with the strengths and advantages of the Latvian educational programs. The representation office of the Latvian universities and business schools in Russia could undertake a task of providing adequate information and attract potential students for Latvian higher educational establishments. An agency that would render the full range of services for Russian people leaving to Latvia for education could be established under that representative office.

The Baltic Course 27, Autumn 2007