The university admission campaign for 2026 has been launched in Russia

An admission campaign to higher education institutions has been launched in Russia. This was announced on June 20 by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.

"June 20 is a single day for the start of accepting documents for admission to Russian universities at all levels of higher education. About 1.5 million applicants will be able to become students of Russian universities this year," RIA Novosti quoted the agency as saying.

It is specified that more than 620 thousand budget places are available in the new academic year. The number of places for targeted admission exceeds 83 thousand, with the largest number of destinations in medicine, engineering, pedagogy and agriculture. Also this year, for the first time, the target quota has been fully distributed among customers, training areas, universities and regions of employment.

Applicants can submit their documents through the Gosuslugi portal, in person or by mail. For admission, it is required to provide identification and educational documents, as well as consent to the processing of personal data and other necessary papers.

In addition, this admission campaign introduces a "day of silence", in which applicants will not be able to make changes to applications and consent to enrollment on the days of issuing enrollment orders. The Ministry of Education and Science also announced changes in the rules for admitting graduates of colleges and technical schools. Now they will take internal exams only when applying to non-core areas.

Acceptance of applications for budget places in bachelor's and specialist's degree programs based on the results of the Unified State Exam will end on July 25, and for paid places — no later than September 20.

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Dmitry Svishchev, a State Duma deputy from the Liberal Democratic Party, said on June 15 that the introduction of the "day of silence" is designed to reduce the stress level of applicants and eliminate chaotic changes in decisions during the admission process. The dates of the "days of silence" for 2026 have already been determined — these are August 3 and 7, coinciding with the dates of enrollment orders at the priority and main stages. The deputy explained that in the past, applicants often changed their minds at the last moment, which is why admissions committees faced serious difficulties.