Higher pricing: they want to take control of the cost of tuition at universities
The increase in tuition fees at universities across the country has been proposed to be controlled, as it has outpaced inflation over the past five years. According to the authors of the initiative, this will help students from low-income families get into top universities in the country. Izvestia got acquainted with the initiative and talked with experts about its necessity.
How has the cost of studying in Russian universities changed?
In Russia, they proposed to control the increase in prices for higher education. This initiative was made by deputy of the Moscow City Duma Maria Voropayeva together with the experts of the working group, the proposal was sent to the State Duma.
According to the analysis of the research center "Analytics. Business. Law", since 2019, the cost of education in the country has been growing at a rate faster than inflation. According to Rosstat, the Ministry of Education and Science and regional surveys, the average cost of a full-time bachelor's degree has risen from 137.8 thousand rubles in 2019 to 190 thousand rubles in 2024. The cumulative growth was about 38%, while cumulative inflation over this period was at the level of 3%.
"Only in 2020, wages grew synchronously with inflation, in other years the dynamics outstripped consumer prices. Education rose in price especially rapidly in 2021-2024, when the average annual increase was 6-8%," the study said, according to Izvestia.
According to analysts, some elite programs at leading universities (for example, MIPT, HSE, ITMO) have exceeded the target of 400-500 thousand rubles per year, which is comparable to the cost of studying at European universities.
Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Russia.
Why is education becoming more expensive in Russia
The pace of price increases is set by large federal universities, according to the authors of the study.
Thus, at Ural Federal University (UrFU), mass programs have increased in price by 39%, from 145 thousand in 2020 to 202 thousand rubles in 2024. At the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), the growth was even higher — 44%, from 160 to 230 thousand rubles. Kazan Federal University (KFU) became the leader, where tuition rose by 53%.
At the same time, Southern Federal University (SFU) showed moderate dynamics (+18%), which indicates regional specifics and differences in the ability of the population to pay.
The difference in the cost of higher education in different regions of the country turned out to be noticeable.
In Moscow and St. Petersburg, mass programs cost from 250-300 thousand rubles, elite engineering and IT areas — over 500 thousand rubles per year. In the Volga region (Tatarstan), the price ranges from 178 to 225 thousand rubles, in the Southern Federal District, paid education starts from 165 thousand rubles, and in Siberia and the Far East (Siberian Federal University, FEFU) — from 180-230 thousand rubles.
"At the same time, the ratio of tuition fees and per capita income gives an ambiguous picture. In 2020, the student contract consumed up to 36% of the family's annual budget, but by 2024 this figure had dropped to 25% due to accelerated salary growth," the authors note.
However, the situation remains difficult for low-income families, and the cost of one year of education can reach seven or more average monthly incomes. In other words, such students are being objectively ousted from top universities.
The deterrence factor
As the cost of education increases, the government increases quotas for free places, the director of the Analytica Research Center tells Izvestia. Business. Law", lawyer Venera Shaidullina. In five years, the number of quotas increased from 516 to 592 thousand, which helped to curb the growth of the average family bill: it increased by only 12% (from 180 to 202 thousand rubles), that is, below the inflation rate.
Russian universities annually allocate about 600-620 thousand budget places for higher education programs. On behalf of the country's leadership, the volume of budget admission has been gradually increasing since 2020: over the years 2020-2023, it has grown by more than 50 thousand places. As a result, approximately 2.07 million students (about 46%) now study for free at the expense of the budget, while 2.4 million students (54%) study on a fee basis, says Shaidullina.
At the same time, the majority of budget places (73%) are sent to regional universities outside Moscow and St. Petersburg. This policy is designed to increase the availability of education locally: about 75% of school graduates go to the budget in their region. According to the forms of education, budget places are mainly focused on full-time programs: the share of full-time students exceeds 60% and is growing, while distance learning remains mostly paid.
— There is an imbalance in some popular areas: for example, there are about 27,000 budget students in law, and over 267,000 paid students. The general trend in recent years has been an increase in the share of state employees, especially in engineering, IT and medical fields, while at the same time curbing the uncontrolled increase in paid places," the Izvestia interlocutor notes.
In 2025, the opportunity to enroll on a budget was assessed by the Ministry of Education and Science as one of the highest in recent years (more than 60% of graduates have a chance of a free place). However, about half of the students still receive paid tuition, and not every family can afford it for their child.
Economics of education
Today, the main regulatory instrument is Article 54 of the Law "On Education", which limits the indexation of fees for students who are already enrolled to the level of official inflation. However, this rule does not apply to new enrollment, which allows for a more significant increase in prices for applicants.
— The methodology of the Ministry of Education and Science establishes the procedure for calculating fees through the cost standard using a coefficient that the university determines independently without an upper limit. An educational loan with state support, designed to lower the barrier, covers less than 7% of paying students (about 25 thousand loans in 2023), says the lawyer.
According to the authors of the initiative, the existing support measures are insufficient against the background of the rapid rise in the cost of higher education. For this reason, they proposed a package that could make higher education more accessible:
— introduce an upper coefficient to the cost standard (for example, × 1.8 for bachelor's degrees, × 2.2 for medical and IT specialties), which will reduce prices in high-margin universities by 5-15%;
— create a public register of prices for educational programs, regions and years to ensure transparency and enhance price competition;
— set a three-year fee growth limit for a new set at the level of "inflation + 2 percentage points", which will help smooth out price peaks;
— expand the program of targeted educational loans for families with an income of up to two minimum wages per person, which can attract an additional 30-40 thousand students per year;
— to introduce regional grants "1st university in the family" with 50% co-financing, which will reduce the territorial gap in access to education.
As Maria Voropayeva explains, these measures will help maintain a balance between the financial stability of universities and the accessibility of education for all categories of citizens, will keep fee increases within reasonable limits and expand the social accessibility of higher education without direct price administration.
How is the cost of education increasing in different universities around the world
In countries that maintain partnerships with Russia, the necessary measures are also being taken to ensure that higher education is accessible to different groups of the population.
For example, in Belarus, the share of paying students is lower than in Russia, due to centralized admission planning, Shaidullina clarifies. The Ministry of Education sets the base tuition rate for specialties annually, and universities try not to exceed these rates. Targeted budget places are allocated to support young people from rural areas, orphans and other privileged categories.
Kazakhstan has a mixed model: the government annually provides tens of thousands of grants covering the full cost of tuition for the best applicants. Partial grants have been introduced, covering 30-75% of the tuition fees for applicants with lower scores of the Unified National Examination (UNT).
In Uzbekistan, the government is increasing the number of budget places and opening branches of foreign universities to increase access to education. Talented students from low-income families are provided with presidential scholarships and grants that fully cover their studies. Educational loans with a discounted rate and deferred payments until graduation are also available. The Ministry approves base prices for public universities, while private ones are set marginal tariffs.
In China, the education system is subsidized by the government, which keeps tuition fees at about $700 per year. Scholarships, grants, and preferential loans are available for low-income students.
According to Tatiana Klyachko, director of the Center for Economics of Continuing Education at the Presidential Academy, there are no universal practices for regulating tuition fees. In some countries, there are universities with large endowment funds, through which students from low-income families receive benefits. This may include reduced tuition fees or completely free courses, as well as affordable accommodation on campuses.
— For example, at Stanford, a significant part of undergraduate students, thanks to endowment funds, pay only half of the cost or are exempt from fees altogether, and also live on campuses for free. Education is very expensive for American students, but thanks to such financial mechanisms it can be obtained. Unfortunately, endowment funds are poorly developed in our system, and universities simply do not have such a financial cushion. Therefore, such measures are not working for us yet," says Tatiana Klyachko.
According to the expert, the initiative to regulate the growth of tuition fees is correct, but it is necessary to take this indicator into account with the general budgets of universities, especially against the background of the fact that from September 1, 2025, the number of paid places will also be regulated.
— Either the federal budget should allocate more funds to universities so that they can fulfill their obligations to teachers, or universities will be forced to raise tuition fees if they limit paid admission. These are interrelated things, and they need to be considered only in a complex," the expert emphasized.
Today, low-cost places in universities are mainly occupied by beneficiaries, high-scoring and Olympiad students, which means that most of the students enroll in paid education, especially in popular areas: economics, law, psychology or management.
— Sometimes some universities provide discounts to children from low-income or large families, but recently they have begun to act more cautiously. This is due to the fact that from next year it is planned to limit paid admission, and universities are trying to accumulate reserves in order to ensure the obligation to pay salaries to teachers. After all, a significant part of extra—budgetary funds goes to these expenses, and in conditions of inflation it is extremely important that teachers can work normally, - says Tatiana Klyachko.
As a result, universities find themselves in a difficult situation: on the one hand, there is a need to curb price increases, on the other, they are forced to raise tuition fees in order to retain teachers.
Candidate of Technical Sciences, author of the Telegram channel "Science and Universities" Evgeny Bely, for the same reason, considers the idea of limiting the cost of educational programs unsuccessful.
"If universities are limited both in the number of paid places and in the cost of tuition, they may simply not survive, because additional budget injections cannot be expected," the expert believes.
He adds that high-quality higher education requires substantial investments. It is impossible to train a qualified specialist without proper equipment and decent pay for teaching.
— Otherwise, it may turn out according to the principle "you pretend to pay, we pretend to teach." I am a proponent of an approach in which paid education lives according to market laws," the expert concludes.
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