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- Teach a scientist: admission to paid education in universities may be limited as early as 2026.
Teach a scientist: admission to paid education in universities may be limited as early as 2026.
Admission to paid higher education institutions may be limited as early as 2026: there will be fewer unnecessary lawyers, managers and other specialists. The bill granting the Cabinet of Ministers such powers may be adopted by the State Duma in the first reading before the end of May, Izvestia found out. The initiative was developed on behalf of the president, who drew attention to excessive paid recruitment in specialties for which there is no demand from the economy and the labor market. A number of universities have stated that they support the new requirements and have already begun to introduce such restrictions.
Why admission to paid education may decrease
Starting from September 1, 2026, admission to paid higher education institutions may be limited. The bill granting the Cabinet of Ministers such powers is planned to be adopted by the State Duma in the first reading in May, and in the final, third, before the end of the spring session, which this year will last until August 3. Izvestia was told about this by the committees, which began to prepare their conclusions for the initiative. Thus, three committees have already come out in support of the bill — education, civil society development and health protection. The documents were reviewed by Izvestia.
The bill was drafted by the speakers of the Federation Council and the State Duma, senators and deputies of all factions after Vladimir Putin's speech. On February 6 of this year, at a meeting of the Presidential Council for Science and Education, the head of state stated the need to eliminate excessive paid recruitment in specialties and areas of higher education for which there is no demand from the economy and the labor market. At the same time, he noted that such specialists have a very low level of training quality, and in the end, no one needs them.
— In Russia today, there is an abundance of lawyers, economists and some other professions that young people get for money, but then they cannot get a job anywhere and remain unclaimed in the labor market. Therefore, this is a very timely initiative. The state should be able to regulate the training of specialists who are necessary for the development of the country," Mikhail Berulava, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Education, explained support for the bill to Izvestia.
According to him, the initiative will primarily affect state universities. Many of them have opened a large number of branches in different regions today, but the quality of teaching in them leaves much to be desired, the deputy explained.
— The first reading of the bill is scheduled for May, and I assume that it may be adopted in final reading before the end of the session. The new standards will help solve the problem of the imbalance in the labor market and the shortage of qualified personnel," Yana Lantratova, head of the Committee for the Development of Civil Society, told Izvestia.
According to her, unfortunately, many universities have now turned into "diploma factories", churning out specialists in unclaimed specialties.
— We propose to give the government the right to set quotas for paid places. Universities will be able to accept students on a commercial basis only within these quotas. This does not mean that there will be no paid education. This means that it will become more targeted and effective," the deputy stressed.
This initiative is also very relevant for healthcare, said Sergey Leonov, head of the relevant committee.
— For example, if we are talking about a specialist, then the availability of paid seats reduces the bandwidth for budget ones. That is, universities today are interested in having more fee-paying students, but they are not always ready and willing to study, since they have already paid. In addition, there is another problem regarding the specialization of doctors. For example, everyone chooses the specialty of a plastic surgeon or gynecologist, but no one wants to study to be a phthisiologist, doctors who treat tuberculosis," the deputy explained.
He also admits that the bill will be adopted in the spring session, while not ruling out that it will still be amended.
Currently, according to the explanatory note to the document, the government will have the right to determine the amount of paid places in universities. However, he will have such authority only from September 1, 2026 — the deputies propose to postpone the deadline for the entry of new requirements to this time.
A government source told Izvestia that a review of the bill is being worked out.
The editorial board sent a request to the Ministry of Education and Science, and also appealed to the country's leading universities, including Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, and the Higher School of Economics, with a request to assess the reduction in paid places.
Why it is important to prevent overproduction of specialists
Zurab Mamkhyagov, Director of the Department of Admission and Pre-university Training at the Moscow State University of Technology and Management named after K.G. Razumovsky, told Izvestia that the university has been operating rules since this year on setting limits on the number of paid places in higher education areas.
— The restrictions primarily apply to the most popular specialties, where there is a clear preponderance towards paid admission: for example, law, management, economics. This is necessary to balance the labor market and prevent overproduction of specialists in certain fields, to meet the needs of the state and society," he explained.
According to him, the university supports the bill, as it is aimed at improving the quality of higher education and a more effective distribution of academic workload.
— Limiting the number of paid places will allow universities to better plan the educational process, ensure an even workload for teachers, and focus on academic results rather than the commercial component. There will also be positive changes for the students.: they will be more responsible about education, because now just the fact of paying for tuition is not enough — you need to confirm the desire for knowledge, motivation and willingness to learn," explained Zurab Mamkhyagov.
He also noted that for private universities, the change could be an incentive to strengthen competitive advantages — educational programs, practice-oriented training, and connections with employers.
Vladimir Zernov, Chairman of the Association of Non-Governmental Universities of Russia, Rector of the Russian New University (RosNOU), academician of the Russian Academy of Education, believes that state regulation of higher education is necessary, but it must be reasonable and with clear rules of the game.
— The fact that we are coming to this again today is wonderful. The main question is: how can this be done to meet the needs of the country and society? In the USSR, the coincidence was very strong, there was a clear government order for personnel and an understanding of which specialists were needed for the development of a particular industry," he explained, noting that this was the third or even fourth attempt to return to the Soviet experience over the past 30 years.
According to him, as now, the goal of the country's technological leadership in the world was then. This means that the priority of studying at universities should be mathematics, physics, artificial intelligence and everything related to IT specialties. At the same time, Vladimir Zernov noted: everyone says that there are too many economists and lawyers in Russia today, but the problem is not that there are many of them, but that there are few professionals among them, since they often do not take exams harshly enough.
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