Russia wants to create a register of diversified and specialized universities

Russia wants to create a register of diversified and specialized universities. According to Izvestia, the Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Boris Chernyshov addressed the Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov with such a proposal.

"In connection with the growing share of university graduates trained in programs that are non-core to their higher education institution, I ask to consider the possibility of creating a register of diversified and specialized universities. It is proposed that the largest universities of the country, which initially or for many years have been training specialists in different fields, such as, for example, Moscow State University and St. Petersburg State University, should be considered as diversified universities. Specialized universities should remain focused on training in one field, for example, medical, engineering, pedagogical and agrarian educational institutions," the document read by Izvestia reads.

It notes that for specialized universities it is necessary to introduce stricter rules for obtaining educational accreditation when opening new specialties that do not correspond to their main profile. In particular, engineering universities should not open humanities faculties without justified confirmation of their competence in this field. The introduction of new areas of training should be motivated not only by financial interests, but also by the real need to expand the educational spectrum of the university.

"This problem is especially acute in the field of medical education. According to the data for 2022, in Russia the training of students in the field of health care and medical sciences was carried out by 117 universities and branches, among which there were not only core medical universities, but also non-core institutions. This practice raises reasonable doubts about the quality of training of medical specialists in universities that do not have the proper educational base for such programs," Boris Chernyshov informs the Minister.

He also notes that many technical universities open humanities departments solely to increase their income by admitting students on a commercial basis. However, the level of training in such departments is often inferior to specialized universities, which leads to a decline in the quality of education, and graduates are forced to either retrain or work outside their specialty. All this hits the labor market and productivity in general, the deputy believes.

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Earlier, on December 29, 2024, it was reported that the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation established the minimum scores of the USE for the 2025/26 academic year. The minimum score for the exam in mathematics will be 39, and in Russian language - 42, in physics - 39, in foreign language - 30, in literature - 40, in biology - 39, in geography - 40, in chemistry - 39, in social science - 45, in history - 35, in computer science - 44.