Admission mission: in 2025, applicants are more likely to choose technical specialties

Applicants began to choose technical and IT specialties more often. The demand for them increased significantly during the admission campaign in 2025, educational institutions told Izvestia. In addition, the number of students from the CIS has increased, with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan showing the largest increase. Students from Angola, Nigeria and Cameroon are also actively coming to Russia to study. About what other trends have developed on the eve of the new academic year, see the Izvestia article.

What are the most popular areas of study?

The preliminary results of the admission campaign for 2025 in Russian universities have already shown several new trends. For example, the demand for IT areas at Moscow Polytechnic University has increased sharply this year, the university's press service told Izvestia.

In particular, twice as many documents were submitted for the Information Security of Automated Systems specialty program as last year. The field of "Computer Science and Computer Engineering" has already collected about 7 thousand applications, and "Information Systems and Technologies" — almost 6 thousand. In total, 167 thousand applications were submitted to the university.

In addition, there has been a noticeable increase in demand for the field of Mechatronics and Robotics. The number of applications has almost doubled compared to last year. A similar situation is observed in the field of Biotechnology.

The number of applications for engineering programs at RUDN University has increased significantly, Elena Apasova, Vice Rector for Strategic Communications at the university, told Izvestia. Last year, 1.8 thousand applicants indicated such areas as priorities, this year — almost 3 thousand.

— The most popular at the university, as in previous years, were advertising and public relations, linguistics, law, economics, medical practice, dentistry, applied informatics, state and municipal administration, — she said.

Novosibirsk State University (NSU) is also popular among applicants in the fields of "Computer Science and Engineering", "Law", "Mathematics and Mechanics", "Mathematics and Computer Science", "Business Informatics", "Applied Mathematics and Physics".

At the Russian State Social University (RSSU), applicants considering a contract form of study most often applied for "Dentistry" and "Medical Practice," the university told Izvestia. The areas of "Advertising and public relations" and "Clinical Psychology" were popular among students of the paid form.

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This year, "Sociology" and "Organization of work with youth" turned out to be among the most sought-after specialties of the budgetary form of education. In addition, applicants actively apply for "Social Work", "Clinical Psychology" and "Cultural Studies".

— For the third year now, we have seen an increase in the interest of applicants in specialties of a significant social nature, — said Yanina Shimanovskaya, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs of the Russian State University of Higher Education. — This is due, among other things, to the high demand for specialists in the field of social work and their guaranteed employment.

There is a record demand for the Management direction at the RANEPA — the number of applications submitted increased by 83% over the year, from 61.1 thousand in 2024 to 111.9 thousand in 2025, added Evgeny Serochudinov, Executive secretary of the Presidential Academy Admissions Committee. The "Economy" and "State and Municipal Administration" also demonstrate positive dynamics.

In addition, there has been a noticeable surge in interest in socio-humanitarian specialties. For example, more than 3,000 applications were submitted for "Political Science", which is almost 72% more than last year.

— Collectively, 2025 can be described as a year of "expanding horizons": applicants began to actively choose areas that combine technology, practical applicability and interdisciplinarity, while maintaining a high interest in fundamental managerial and economic specialties, the university noted.

What did the applicants tell us

Valery from Tula applied for IT specialties — "Applied Mathematics and Computer Science", "Software Engineering", "Computer Science and Computer Engineering", he told Izvestia. For admission, he considered only the budget form of education.

— Since the eighth grade, I have been interested in programming, so for further development I want to acquire fundamental skills in mathematics and computer science. I applied to several universities, and I was accepted on a budget to TulSU (Tula State University. — Ed.), — he explained.

Ekaterina is interested in medical fields such as Pharmacology, Medicine, Pediatrics and Dentistry. According to the applicant, she sent the documents to several universities at once — the Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, A.I. Evdokimov Moscow State Medical University, Rudn University and RSSU.

— I chose medicine because I have been interested in this field since childhood. In addition, I went to various events related to medical fields, found out how the training was going, and as a result decided to enroll in medical specialties," she explained. — I was unable to enroll in the target form of study, so I plan to apply for a paid form and am still thinking about which specialty to choose — dentistry or pediatrics.

During the admission campaign, Ekaterina was faced with the fact that the data on the number of target places in her chosen destinations varied on different websites. However, not all universities were able to promptly explain to her which information was true.

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Anastasia told Izvestia that she also applied for the fields of Pharmacy, Biotechnology, Medical Biochemistry, Clinical Psychology and Medical Medicine. According to her, she considered an exclusively free form of education. She sent the documents to RUDN University, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, N.I. Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, MIREA and RCTU.

"I was enrolled on a budget at the I.M. Sechenov University in the pharmaceutical field," she said. — I have always dreamed of connecting my life with medicine, because my whole family works in this field.

Applicants from which countries submitted the most applications to Russian universities

Another trend this year was a noticeable increase in the number of applicants from the post—Soviet countries - there are a third more of them this year, according to the Moscow Polytechnic University.

"Turkmenistan showed the greatest growth — by 33%. Uzbekistan has increased the number of applicants by 28%. Tajik citizens have also become more active in applying to a Russian university. In 2025, 20% more students enrolled in bachelor's and specialist's degree programs," they added.

Yuri Anfimov, Executive Secretary of the university's admissions Committee, noted the growing interest of international students in Russian technical education.

"We see a steady increase in the number of applications from post-Soviet countries. This proves the continued attractiveness of the Russian engineering school and the quality of our educational programs. It is important that these students choose technical specialties, which contributes to the development of scientific and technical cooperation between our countries," he explained.

The RANEPA also received the largest number of documents from foreign citizens from the CIS countries. Thus, among the total number of applications from abroad, about 23% were submitted by applicants from Kazakhstan, 20.4% from Turkmenistan, and 10.3% from Uzbekistan.

The flow of applications from citizens of Kazakhstan doubled in 2025. In addition, the number of applications submitted by residents of Uzbekistan increased by 58%. RUDN University received the largest number of applications from abroad from Angola, Nigeria and Cameroon, and from the CIS countries — from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

—When analyzing preferences, it is noted that applicants from Asia choose humanitarian and economic fields, applicants from Africa prefer IT and engineering specialties, and students from Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa primarily choose medical fields," Elena Apasova added.

The data from this admission campaign reflects the complex processes of educational migration, where traditional centers of student influx compete with developing regional universities, Yuri Anfimov added.

Why are such destinations popular?

The high popularity of technical and IT areas is a trend that is noted not only in Russia, but also in almost all developed countries of the world, Georgy Ostapkovich, scientific director of the HSE Center for Economic Research and Economic Development, told Izvestia. According to him, this is one of those areas that will always be involved in the economy.

— A person who has received an education in such a specialty is guaranteed to have a demand for his services. And guaranteed pay is an important factor when choosing a course of study. In addition, for example, specialists in the field of IT and information technology, according to Rosstat, have a fairly high average salary," he explained.

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According to the Institute for the Development of Entrepreneurship and Economics, more than 90% of companies face a shortage of employees, especially in IT, manufacturing, construction, trade and housing and communal services.

In addition to universities, interest in secondary vocational education has also grown. In June-July 2025 alone, applicants submitted more than 1.7 million applications to colleges and technical schools, which is 800 thousand more than a year ago.

According to Egor Sorokin, CEO of Online College No. 1 and Online School No. 1, the reasons for its popularity are obvious: graduates enter the labor market at the age of 18-20, start earning faster, tuition is cheaper, and professions are in demand.

— From the first year, students receive practical skills that are valued by employers, and if desired, they can continue their studies at the university under a shortened program, — he said.

According to experts, the current task of the state and educational institutions is to join forces and train specialists who can close the personnel gap.