Foreign enrolment in Russia triples over past decade
A new report from the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) finds that the number of foreign students enrolled in Russian universities has increased nearly three-fold over the past decade. From a base of 100,900 foreign students in 2004/05, total enrolment in Russian higher education reached 282,900 in 2014/15. This represents total growth of 180% over the ten years, and is matched by a commensurate increase in related export revenues which grew to a reported US$1.46 billion in 2015.
Year-over-year enrolment growth stands at 17.2% between 2013/14 and 2014/15 alone and RANEPA reports an average annual growth rate of roughly 9% since 2003. “The appeal of Russian education for foreigners has risen in recent years as the decrease in the value of the ruble compared with foreign currencies has made studying in Russia much more affordable,” highlights a recent news item from Russia Beyond the Headlines. “The government is trying to capitalise on this trend in several ways.”
In 2015 alone, Russia expanded its scholarship programme for foreign students and a group of 15 leading institutions established a new joint centre for international recruitment.
A separate Project Atlas report from the Institute of International Education (IIE) notes that most foreign students in Russia (83%) are enrolled in public institutions. IIE also points out that most foreign students in Russia come from the former Soviet Republics that now make up the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
As the following table indicates, the biggest senders from within this group are Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Ukraine. The only non-CIS states in Russia’s top ten sending markets are China, India, and Vietnam with China – and its 20,342 students in 2015 – the largest non-CIS sender by far.
