186 points on the exam. If a graduate does not score the required Unified State Exam scores, is it possible to enroll in college?

Future graduates, not to mention their concerned parents, are following all the changes that the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation generously showers on the Unified State Exam every year. Schoolchildren naturally think about a difficult but eternal question - who to become? - and, for the most part, they already know the direction in which they will step on the path to their desired profession.

This is extremely important, because by focusing on specialized subjects (future doctors should focus on chemistry and biology, those who dream of becoming translators into a foreign language, etc.), boys and girls will be able to get a higher overall score.

When passing the Unified State Exam, a special place is given to the knowledge threshold in the Unified State Exam scores. It is on the basis of overcoming the minimum score that the Unified State Examination certificate is issued. We can say that these are the Unified State Exam scores in compulsory subjects that correspond to the “satisfactory” mark.

If a student receives a score below the threshold in elective subjects, nothing is added to the certificate. At the moment, every future graduate is interested in minimum Unified State Exam 2017 scores in all subjects.

Some changes in the Unified State Exam in 2017

Changes in the conduct and the Unified State Exam 2017 itself are almost the most pressing topic for many. Every year, eleventh grade graduates expect news about some innovations, innovations and corrections in the Unified State Examination, sometimes not in a positive direction.

So, in 2017, a third will be added to the two mandatory exams. In addition to mathematics and the Russian language, eleventh graders will need to take another mandatory exam. There is no final decision yet on what the subject selected for the Unified State Exam will be, however, according to unconfirmed data, it is most likely that it will be history.

According to education officials, and due to the fact that it is in this discipline that students show low knowledge, making history mandatory would be the best option. It is expected that schoolchildren will take a stronger grip on learning the basics of this science.

In addition, even the form of the history exam (if this subject is included in the list of mandatory ones for the annual test of graduates’ knowledge) will be changed: the oral part will become much longer, while the test part of the exam is planned to be significantly reduced.

An oral block will be added to the Russian language exam. This is done to test the communication abilities of graduates. The changes will also affect essays - if previously a student could receive a “pass” or “fail” for a written essay, then when passing the Unified State Exam in the Russian language in 2017, they plan to give grades for the final essay.

Provided that the third compulsory subject is history, students will be offered the following disciplines to choose from, and they will only need to choose one:

• Computer science;
• Chemistry;
• Physics;
• Geography;
• Biology;
• Social science;
• Literature;
• Foreign language (English, Spanish, German or French).

Minimum passing scores for the Unified State Exam in 2017

When entering a university, all high school graduates are required to submit to the admissions committee, in addition to their certificate, a certificate with the results of the Unified State Exam. According to the latest data, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation does not intend to change the threshold Unified State Exam scores for now.

The minimum scores of the Unified State Exam in all disciplines in 2017 were formed as follows:

• Russian language – 24 points;
• Mathematics, profile level – 27 points (this result is accepted in universities);
• Mathematics basic level – 3 points (this result gives the right to receive a certificate, but is not accepted at universities);
• Physics – 36 points;
• Social studies – 42 points;
• Biology – 36 points;
• Geography – 37 points;
• Chemistry – 36 points;
• Computer Science – 40 points;
• Foreign language – 22 points;
• Literature – 32 points.

It is gratifying that the results that a graduate will receive at the Unified State Exam can be used within three years.

Upon admission, an additional 10 points may be added to an applicant for an excellent certificate, special academic achievements (scientific competitions, olympiads, etc.), as well as for high achievements in the field of sports.

It may be interesting for graduates to familiarize themselves with the statistics of passing Unified State Exam scores in all disciplines over the past years.

Item	Minimum threshold Unified State Exam score
	year 2009	2010	2011	year 2012	year 2013	year 2014	2015	2016
Russian language	37 points	36 points	36 points	36 points	36 points	24 points	36 points	36 points
Mathematics	21 points	21 points	24 points	24 points	24 points	20 points	27 points	27 points (P)
								3 points (B)
Physics	32 points	34 points	33 points	36 points	36 points	36 points	36 points	36 points
Social science	39 points	39 points	39 points	39 points	39 points	39 points	42 points	42 points
Biology	35 points	36 points	36 points	36 points	36 points	36 points	36 points	36 points
Geography	34 points	35 points	35 points	37 points	37 points	37 points	37 points	37 points
Chemistry	33 points	33 points	32 points	36 points	36 points	36 points	36 points	36 points
Computer science	36 points	41 points	40 points	40 points	40 points	40 points	40 points	40 points
Foreign language	20 points	20 points	20 points	20 points	20 points	20 points	20 points	22 points
Literature	30 points	29 points	32 points	32 points	32 points	32 points	32 points	32 points

In case of unsatisfactory USE results, the student has the right to retake the exam twice. Even if the threshold score is exceeded, the graduate can take the opportunity to improve his grade in order to gain the required score for admission to the chosen university.

Last update: 06/03/2017

There's a lot of talk about IQ tests these days, but many people still don't know what these scores actually mean. What exactly is a high IQ? What about the average? How many points do you need to score to be considered a genius?

IQ, or intelligence quotient, is a score obtained on a standardized test designed to measure intelligence. Formally, it is believed that in the early 1900s with the introduction of the Binet-Simon test, but later it was revised, and the Stanford-Binet test acquired universality.
IQ tests have proven to be very popular not only among psychologists, but also among other specialists, but there is still a lot of debate about what exactly IQ tests measure and how accurate they are.
In order to adequately evaluate and interpret test results, psychometricians use standardization. This process involves administering the test to a representative sample of the population. Each participant takes the test under the same conditions as all other participants in the study group. This process allows psychometricians to establish norms or standards against which individual results can be compared.
When determining the results of an intelligence test, as a rule, the normal distribution function is used - a bell-shaped curve in which most results are located near or around the average score. For example, the majority of scores (about 68%) on the WAIS III test tend to fall between 85 and 115 points (with an average of 100). The remaining results are less common, which is why the area of ​​the curve on which they are located is directed downward. Very few people (approximately 0.2%) score more than 145 (indicating a very high IQ) or less than 55 (indicating a very low IQ) on the test.
Because the average score is 100, professionals can quickly evaluate individual scores by comparing them to the mean and determining where they fall on a normal distribution scale.

More about IQ scores

In most modern IQ tests, the average score is set at 100 points with a standard deviation of 15 points - so that the scores follow a bell curve. This means that 68% of the results fall within one standard deviation from the mean (that is, between 85 and 115 points), and 95% fall within two standard deviations (between 70 and 130 points).
A score of 70 or below is considered low. In the past, this mark was considered an indicator of mental retardation and intellectual disability, characterized by significant cognitive impairment. Today, however, IQ test results alone are not used to diagnose intellectual disability. Approximately 2.2% of people score below 70 points.
A score greater than 140 is considered a high IQ. Many people believe that a score of more than 160 points can indicate a person’s genius.
A high IQ is certainly closely related to academic performance, but is it related to success in life at all? Are there people truly more successful than their counterparts with lower IQs? Many experts believe that other factors, including .
That is, the scores are interpreted as follows.

The 2018 Unified State Exam campaign is coming to an end in Russia, and even the second wave of exams is coming to an end. However, checking exams takes time, and at the moment graduates are waiting for the latest results of the Unified State Exam of the first wave. Some people already realize that they did not score enough points - much less than the student expected before taking the exams. Some people haven’t received all the results and are worried about what to do if there aren’t enough points. What if I didn’t get the required points on the Unified State Exam, is it possible to enter the institute, what other options remain for the applicant in 2018.

What do you mean you didn't get the required points?

First of all, it’s worth, of course, understanding what “few points for the Unified State Exam” means. Some of the graduates studied excellently all their lives and hoped for at least 80-90 points for each Unified State Exam, scored an average of 77 and considered that life was over. And someone has completely failed the Russian language or mathematics and risks being left without a certificate of education as such, even before college here at all.

Two situations can be considered a minor disaster:

• the student was unable to pass one of the mandatory exams (Russian language or mathematics) and risks being left without an education document,
• The student did not achieve the minimum Unified State Exam scores set by Rosobrnadzor (we have a table of minimum scores for each Unified State Exam on our website earlier).

The way out of the first situation is to retake. At the moment, those schoolchildren who were unable to pass the mandatory Unified State Exam in 2018 in the first wave know about this and even managed to retake the exams in the additional stage of the Unified State Exam. The results of these Unified State Examinations will come on July 10-11.

If, based on the results of retaking the mandatory Unified State Examination, a graduate gains enough points, and his Unified State Examination results for his choice are in perfect order, he can try to enroll in a university in the same year. If the exams are failed again, retaking is possible only in September. Of course, you can forget about the institute, at least in 2018.

If a graduate has successfully completed the mandatory Unified State Exam, but failed in one of the elective exams, and the number of points scored is below the minimum, he will not be able to enter the institute. Universities simply do not have the right to admit applicants if they provide USE results below the minimum threshold from Rosobrnadzor. Even for paid training.

The first option is to enroll in a year.

There is nothing wrong with this option. Giving up at the first small difficulty, giving up higher education because of a minor failure, is not the best start to adulthood. Even if a student is accustomed to having everything easily and simply, it’s time to learn how to achieve his goal.

A graduate needs to understand that missing a year is not a big deal at all. It is better to receive a higher education diploma a year later than not to have one at all. Unless, of course, it really is that important.

What you do during this year is up to you to decide depending on the situation. Most likely, young people are taking the risk of joining the army, and it will be a little easier for girls.

But the main thing you need to do this year, if you are not in the army, is to prepare diligently for retaking the Unified State Exam. The results of the exams that suit you will be valid for four years, so you can focus on a problematic subject, in which the Unified State Exam was passed with too low scores.

Remember that graduates of previous years take the Unified State Exam earlier than the main wave - in the spring. So you will have less than one year to prepare.

The second option is to enroll in a paid department at the institute

This is a way out for those who scored few points on the Unified State Exam, but still more than the minimum that closes the way to universities.

If all options for enrolling on a budget are impossible or uninteresting, enroll in a paid department. Of course, there must be financial opportunities for this. You may have to study and work at the same time.

The third way out is to get a secondary specialized education

This solution is suitable for everyone. Even if you failed both mandatory Unified State Examinations and retaking it is impossible (and if you fail to pass two mandatory Unified State Examinations at once, this is exactly the situation), you can always use your ninth grade certificate.

With this certificate you can enter a college, technical school or other secondary educational institution. We advise you to pay attention to colleges at universities. Quite often, such colleges associated with institutes or universities are the suppliers of applicants for them.

Whether a college or technical school operates at a university or on its own, in any case, the road to a university upon completion is not closed to you.

Whatever the situation you find yourself in and how hopeless it may seem to you, in fact, if you set yourself the goal of getting a higher education, you will get it. And it remains to be seen which university graduate will achieve greater success - an excellent student who is used to getting everything easily or one who, by the time he received his diploma, has learned to overcome life's difficulties.

The National Research University Higher School of Economics and the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, together with the International Information Agency Rossiya Segodnya, have been researching the quality of admission to Russian universities for five years now, since 2011. The study is based on an analysis of information presented on the websites of higher educational institutions, which is verified with data from universities’ reports to the Ministry of Education and Science. If necessary, data is verified with university admissions committees.

The results of the study (often called monitoring of the quality of admission) are widely used primarily by applicants making decisions about choosing a university and educational program, as well as by the universities themselves to analyze their position in the higher education market. The Russian Ministry of Education and Science and the leadership of Russian regions rely on monitoring results when assessing the work of universities and developing educational policy.

By tradition, the first part of the study—the results of enrollment in budget-funded places—is presented by the Minister of Education and Science of Russia and the rector of the Higher School of Economics in early September. In October, the second part of the study is published, which includes an analysis of paid admission (number of students enrolled, average score and cost of training), as well as its comparison with the quality and size of the budgeted admission.

Monitoring includes only full-time education, as well as only those universities whose admission is determined by the Unified State Examination competition and Olympiads. Creative universities and universities of law enforcement agencies do not participate in the monitoring.

General observations

• The average Unified State Exam scores of those enrolled in budget-funded places are, as a rule, 5-6 points higher than the average Unified State Exam scores of those enrolled in paid places—this ratio is maintained throughout the entire monitoring.
• In terms of the total number of applicants to the 1st year, the budgetary enrollment is approximately twice as large as the paid one.

Rice. 1. Average USE scores of those enrolled in budget and paid places and the total number of first-year students, 2011-2016

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Average Unified State Examination score of those enrolled in budget-funded places	63,6	63,5	67,2	64,3	65,7	66,6
enrolled in budget places, pers.	286 621	302 656	299 822	281 583	288 154	275 566
average Unified State Exam score of those enrolled in paid places	57,5	56,6	61,9	57,3	60,3	60,8
enrolled in paid places, pers.	99 131	151 581	158 335	148 393	136 386	154 293

• Most applicants enter classical universities and technical universities.

Rice. 2. Distribution of freshmen among universities of different profiles, 2016

• In Russia as a whole, medical universities demonstrate the highest average USE scores of applicants. There are more weak applicants in technical, pedagogical and agricultural universities.

Rice. 3. Average USE scores of those enrolled in budget and paid places, for universities of different profiles, 2011-2015

Table 1. Top 20 universities with the highest average Unified State Exam scores among those enrolled in budget places, 2011-2015

Popular areas of training

The extent to which a particular profession is attractive in the eyes of applicants and their families can be indirectly assessed by comparing 1) the shares of Olympiad winners and prize-winners among those enrolled in different areas of training (since this group of applicants is the most free in choosing a university) and 2) the shares enrolled in paid places (since this group of applicants chooses where to invest their own funds).

The “International Relations” direction remains the absolute leader: the share of “Olympiads” in it reaches 13% (and this is the largest share among all directions), and those enrolled in paid places make up three quarters of the entire enrollment.

In general, in terms of the share of paid admission, social and humanitarian areas of training are noticeably ahead of technical ones.

Table 2. Groups of training areas with the largest (more than 70%) and smallest (less than 5%) paid enrollment

	Group of directions	Total enrollment in 2015, people.	Of these, enrolled in paid places, %
big		3973	77,9
	Economy	35526	77,7
	International relationships	4063	77,4
		6339	76,7
	Jurisprudence	23129	73,1
small		3782	4,8
	Agriculture and fisheries	16656	4,7
	Technological machines and equipment	7578	4,6
	Geography	2319	4,4
		9429	4,4
	Water transport management	1050	3,9
	Printing and packaging	332	3,6
	Forestry	3067	3,4
	Light industry technologies	807	2,4
	Armament	719	1,9
	Metallurgy	1492	1,9
	Materials	1839	1,5
	Marine technology	1772	1,4
	Soil science	297	1,0

The same areas of training are also chosen by preferential categories of applicants: their largest share (from 7 to 8.5%) is in the areas of “State and Municipal Administration”, “Economics”, “Jurisprudence”, “Advertising and Public Relations”, "International Relations", "Management".

Table 3. Areas of training, among those enrolled in which the share of applicants with special rights exceeds 7%, 2015.

In terms of the share of Olympiad participants, the composition of the leading fields is less homogeneous: along with the humanities, physics, mathematics and chemistry occupy prominent positions.

Table 4. Areas of training, among those enrolled in which the share of winners and prize-winners of Olympiads exceeds 4%, 2015.

Group of directions		Share of Olympiad participants, %
International relationships	4063	13,38
Physics	5240	7,28
Oriental and African Studies	1310	6,85
Art theory	438	6,67
Design	2801	6,48
	7735	5,35
Advertising and Public Relations	3973	5,01
Mathematics	10463	4,93
Nuclear physics and technology	1201	4,59
Economy	35526	4,51
Chemistry	3144	4,25

The needs of enterprises and organizations, regional and municipal authorities, expressed in the target recruitment profile, focus on professions that are basic to society: doctors, teachers, lawyers and technical specialists in the field of transport.

Table 5. Areas of training, among those enrolled in which the share of “target students” exceeds 15%, 2015.

Group of directions	Total enrollment in budget and paid places, people.	Share of “targets”, %
Healthcare	41310	50,12
Aviation, rocket and space technology	3782	44,59
Aviation systems (operation)	1712	28,90
Armament	719	23,26
Vehicles	13315	21,86
Electronic engineering, radio engineering and communications	9429	19,59
Jurisprudence	23129	19,44
Teacher Education	27978	16,78
Oil and gas business	3194	16,47
Mechanical engineering	2286	16,22
Marine technology	1772	15,28

Strengths and weaknesses in training areas

University	2015 (ranking)	2014 (ranking)	2013 (ranking)	2012 (ranking)	2011 (ranking)	Credited to the 2015 budget	Average USE score (budget) 2015	Credited to the 2014 budget	Average USE score (budget) 2014	Credited to the 2013 budget	Average Unified State Exam score (budget) 2013	Credited to the 2012 budget	Average Unified State Exam score (budget) 2012	Credited to the 2011 budget	Average USE score (budget) 2011
St. Petersburg Academic University - scientific and educational center of nanotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences	1					59	95,5
	2	1	1	1	1	436	94,7	416	93,8	450	96,5	463	93,7	448	93,7
	3	2	3	3	3	890	93,8	926	92,7	944	93,6	867	91,2	854	90
	4	3	2	2	2	1989	91,5	1873	91,4	2102	94,2	1596	93,4	1721	90
	5	9	4	6	8	208	89,4	187	85,5	185	90,6	171	86,8	175	84,4
	6	4	7	9	9	2340	88,1	2365	88	2640	89	2915	84,2	2887	82,6
	7	7	6	7	7	3848	87,1	3919	86,3	3998	89,3	3829	86,6	3912	85,6
	8	10	16	37	36	475	86,3	607	84,8	865	85	1249	77,2	1215	76,9
Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation, Moscow	9	8	17	11	13	611	85,6	640	86	575	85	561	83,3	511	81,1
State Institute of Russian Language named after. A.S. Pushkin, Moscow	10	11	8	8	5	75	85,6	46	83,5	42	87,6	42	85,7	40	89
	11	15	21	14	34	529	84,6	621	82,8	697	84,4	444	82	474	77,8
Samara State Economic University	12	28	67	65	50	204	84	212	79,2	259	77,9	219	74,3	218	75,1
	13	5	5	12	19	620	83,2	565	87,8	592	90,1	573	82,9	592	80,7
	14	6	9	4	4	1034	83	1032	87,3	1398	87,4	628	91,1	582	89,4
St. Petersburg National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics	15	12	26	15	20	1122	82,7	1173	83	1282	83,6	1372	81,9	1377	80,2
Nizhny Novgorod State Linguistic University named after. ON THE. Dobrolyubova	16	19	14	13	25	177	82,7	181	80,7	167	85,3	167	82,5	169	79,1
	17	18	13	29	29	576	82,6	449	81	540	85,3	510	79,2	554	78,5
St. Petersburg State University of Technology and Design	18	34	48	49	71	481	82,5	441	78	385	80,9	409	75,7	500	72,5
Russian Academy of Justice, Moscow	19	20	20	5	6	83	82,5	91	80,4	102	84,5	87	87,8	78	86
	20	14	11	10	17	866	82,3	1142	82,8	1146	85,6	926	83,3	850	80,9
	21	16	12	20	10	943	82	930	82,7	895	85,4	791	81,3	760	82
First State Moscow Medical University named after. THEM. Sechenov	22	25	10	26	16	1262	81,8	1392	79,6	1351	86,1	1084	80,2	990	80,9
	24	13	28	27	58	1341	81,2	1024	83	1056	83,3	932	79,7	1084	74,2
St. Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University	25	24	24	18	21	430	81	455	79,7	445	83,7	445	81,5	439	80
	30	31	15	17	14	425	80	420	78,5	366	85,1	375	81,9	392	81,1
St. Petersburg State Economic University	31	42	40	25	18	772	79,7	1035	76,7	696	81,5	702	80,4	678	80,9
	36	17	18	31	15	367	79,3	359	81,4	345	85	341	78,5	334	81,1
Moscow State Technical University named after. N.E. Bauman	42	52	27	22	11	3088	78,5	2968	75,5	2824	83,3	2520	81,1	2756	81,3
Literary Institute named after. A.M. Gorky, Moscow	49	21	33	19	22	91	77,5	91	80	82	82,6	71	81,4	71	79,5
	58	26	19	34	12	635	75,8	592	79,4	452	84,7	474	77,9	350	81,3
Dagestan State Medical Academy, Makhachkala	131	94	29	16	23	485	69,9	486	71,2	485	83	467	81,9	484	79,4

Table 9. TOP 20 universities by quality of paid admission (2011-2015)

University	2015 (ranking)	2014 (ranking)	2013 (ranking)	2012 (ranking)	2011 (ranking)	Enrolled in paid places 2015	Average Unified State Examination score of those enrolled in paid places 2015	Enrolled in paid places 2014	Average Unified State Examination score of those enrolled in paid places 2014	Enrolled in paid places 2013	Average Unified State Examination score of those enrolled in paid places 2013	Enrolled in paid places 2012	Average Unified State Examination score of those enrolled in paid places 2012	Enrolled in paid places 2011	Average Unified State Examination score of those enrolled in paid places 2011
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology	1	2	3	3	4	149	82,5	74	78,9	119	80,9	113	77,7	60	76,1
Moscow State Institute of International Relations	2	1	1	1	3	645	81,3	716	78,9	748	84,9	597	79,4	538	78,8
National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow	3	3	2	2	5	1965	79,3	914	77,8	1577	81,1	1145	77,9	889	75,8
St. Petersburg State University	4	5	9	13	13	774	77,3	890	75	1266	76,3	1298	69	972	68,1
National Research Nuclear University "MEPhI", Moscow	5	9	32	53	62	305	76	66	71,8	353	69,7	340	61,7	251	60,8
Moscow State University named after. M.V. Lomonosov	6	6	4	4	6	1807	74,3	1431	72,4	1352	78,3	1450	73,5	1339	72,7
National Research University Higher School of Economics, branch, St. Petersburg	7	8	14	12	19	498	74,3	300	72	108	73,7	88	69,1	51	66,3
First St. Petersburg State Medical University named after. I.P. Pavlova	8	7	6	6	33	415	72,6	253	72,2	345	77,6	195	71,9	222	63,3
All-Russian Academy of Foreign Trade, Moscow	9	12	8	10	20	347	72,5	373	69,1	362	76,5	371	69,2	227	66,2
Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics National Research University Higher School of Economics	10	10	17	28	91	63	71,1	12	70,4	35	72,8	28	64,6	24	58,2
Russian National Research Medical University named after. N.I. Pirogov, Moscow	11	60	45	42	72	533	70,7	367	61,6	623	67,7	481	62,7	214	59,3
Moscow Architectural Institute (state academy)	12		113	101	161	134	70,6			129	62,5	98	57,4	97	55,5
Russian Economic University named after. G.V. Plekhanov, Moscow	13	34	37	39	30	705	70,4	1445	63,9	1211	69,3	955	62,9	725	63,4
Novosibirsk National Research State University	14	11	28	19	311	501	70,4	557	69,5	605	71	705	66,2
Moscow State Law University named after. O.E. Kutafina	15	26	20	22	32	269	70,2	406	65,8	498	71,9	420	65,2	327	63,3
Kazan State Medical University	16	15	12	7	41	405	69,9	266	68,2	371	74,3	152	71,3	268	62,4
Tver State Medical University	17	29	15	21	46	180	69,9	166	64,3	190	73,7	188	65,6	144	62
National Research University Higher School of Economics, branch, Nizhny Novgorod	18	18	22	57	29	58	69,9	57	67,5	146	71,5	91	61,4	103	63,8
Russian Customs Academy, Lyubertsy	19	99	67	37	45	168	69,3	236	59,3	249	66	193	63,4	96	62,1
Kuban State Medical University, Krasnodar	20	22	16	16	12	562	69,1	588	66,8	650	73,5	530	67,3	319	68,4
universities included in the Top 20 in 2011-2014.
Moscow State Linguistic University	22	4	11	11	15	198	68,9	18	75,2	110	74,6	206	69,1	91	67,5
South Federal University	26	20	31	96	75	187	68	45	67,4	310	70	1026	58	276	59
Ural State Medical University, Ekaterinburg	28	49	21	18	84	270	67,6	286	62,8	292	71,9	261	66,5	279	58,6
St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation	29	62	76	103	11	596	67,2	683	61,4	592	64,7	547	57,3	375	69
Voronezh State Medical University named after. N.N. Burdenko	30	13	10	8	8	382	67,1	368	68,8	398	75,6	449	69,3	542	70,5
Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow	32	19	29	9	10	1301	66,8	985	67,4	785	70,5	545	69,3	532	69,2
Moscow State Medical and Dental University	43	14	19	334	7	400	65,8	531	68,4	542	71,9			92	72,4
Izhevsk State Medical Academy	58	40	50	66	2	171	64	110	63,5	141	67,1	183	60,1	146	79,3
Rostov State Medical University	62	46	5	5	21	463	63,6	328	63	245	77,7	190	72,5	169	65,7
Moscow State University of Printing Arts	72	41	18	20	53	472	62,6	260	63,3	256	72,1	249	66,1	249	61,4
Moscow State Humanitarian University named after. M.A. Sholokhov	78	16	70	71	51	108	62,5	111	68,1	190	65,8	344	59,8	80	61,5
St. Petersburg State Technological Institute (Technical University)	85	17	251	221	288	428	62,1	226	68	1003	57,1	845	53,3	510
Russian State University of Oil and Gas named after. THEM. Gubkina, Moscow	87	63	47	26	16	466	62	556	61,4	559	67,5	527	64,7	402	66,9
South Russian Institute of Management - branch of RANEPA, Rostov-on-Don	112	78	65	51	17	322	61,2	369	60,5	371	66	357	61,9	371	66,9
North Ossetian State Medical Academy, Vladikavkaz	118	58	7	14	1	88	61	89	61,8	127	76,6	97	67,8	99	81,5
Stavropol State Medical University	119	108	13	17	14	321	60,8	338	59	335	74,1	318	66,5	253	67,9
Ural Institute of Management - branch of RANEPA, Yekaterinburg	131	112	30	15	22	295	60,1	103	58,8	72	70,5	90	67,8	23	65,6
Samara State Medical University	134	27	41	33	9	265	60	240	64,6	206	68,4	278	63,8	255	69,9
Tolyatti State University	173	158	239	267	18	466	58,1	494	56,2	505	57,5	515	51,8	439	66,8

Training structure and paid admission

We can distinguish five groups of directions according to the ratio of paid and budget admission of students.

First group, the most numerous (28 directions out of 66) - paid admission is insignificant, less than 10% of the budget. This group includes six areas out of ten that have the largest budgetary support: “agriculture”, “transport”, “energy”, “mathematics”, “electronics” and “ecology”. The fact that there are practically no paying students in these areas reflects, first of all, the traditional “overproduction” of personnel in budget-funded places.

Second group— there is a paid reception, but it is small: from 10 to 35% of the budget. There are 11 such areas out of 66, the largest being “pedagogy” and “construction”. As a rule, applicants to these areas view their prospects for future employment as good, but do not expect a quick career.

Third group— paid admission from 36 to 80% of the budget, approximately corresponding to the share of paid admission in the higher education system as a whole. This, one might say, is the optimal combination: paying students bring significant additional income to the university, while the university is not very dependent on them and can, accordingly, pursue a fairly principled quality control policy. This group includes 13 areas, the largest being “healthcare”, where there were 17 thousand paid students for 25 thousand budget first-year students. Applicants enrolled in educational programs in these areas have expressed career expectations and are set for fairly high incomes in the future.

Fourth group— paid admission ranges from 81 to 150% of the budget. Paid recruitment for universities in this group is almost as important as budgetary recruitment, but the latter still remains a “supporting link” in the economy of the university and the formation of its personnel policy (the vast majority of teachers are on budgetary rates and only receive additional payments through paid recruitment). There are only five such areas: “design”, “business informatics” and “service sector”, as well as a small set of “publishing” and “art theory”.

Finally, fifth group includes nine directions, the paid admission for which is more than twice (and often three or four times) higher than the budget one. Here, as a rule, the economy is completely different: some teachers are hired on “extra-budgetary” rates, and paid students determine the quality of the audience. The university is forced to focus specifically on paying students in its quality policy. Among the largest areas of this group are “economics”, “law”, “management”, “linguistics and foreign languages”, “state and municipal management”, “advertising” and “international relations”.

Table 10. Groups of destinations with the highest budget reception

Group of directions	Enrolled in budget places, thousand people 2015 / 2014	Enrolled in paid places, thousand people 2015 / 2014		Notes
Healthcare	24,5 / 23,8	17,2 / 16,2	70%
Pedagogy	21,5 / 22,5	6,3 / 5,4	30%	Increased quality of budget and paid reception; price rise
Informatics and Computer Science	18,5 / 17	2,5 / 2,6	13%
Agriculture	16 / 16	0,8 / 1,3	5%
Construction	13,5 / 13,5	2,9 / 2,2	21%	Rising prices
Vehicles	12,5 / 12	0,8 / 0,6	6%
Energy	11,5 / 11,5	0,8 / 0,5	7%
Mathematics	9,5 / 9,1	0,8 / 0,7	8%	Rising prices and quality of paid reception
Electronics, radio engineering and communications	9 / 8,7	0,4 / 0,3	5%	Slight price reduction
Ecology	8,5 / 8	0,8 / 1,1	9%	Rising prices

Table 11. Groups of destinations with the highest paid admission

Group of directions	Enrolled in budget places, thousand. people 2015 / 2014	Enrolled in paid places, thousand people 2015 / 2014	Share of paid reception relative to budget	Notes
Economy	7,9 / 8,9	28 / 33,5	356%	The only major area where the target figures for budget admissions have decreased. Increasing the quality of paid reception while reducing the quantity
Healthcare	24,5 / 23,8	17,2 / 16,2	70%
Jurisprudence	5,7 / 5,3	16,5 / 15	289%	Growth of budget and paid admission
Management	7,7 / 7,4	14 / 20	179%	A sharp reduction in paid admission with an increase in quality and a significant increase in price
Pedagogy	21,5 / 22,5	6,3 / 5,4	30%	Increased quality of budget and paid reception, rising prices
Linguistics and foreign languages	2,9 / 2,8	5,2 / 4	181%	Increased quality of budget reception; a sharp increase in the number of paid admissions with a sharp rise in prices
State and municipal administration	1,5 / 1,5	4,9 / 8	331%
Service sector	3,9 / 3,8	4,4 / 5,6	113%	A sharp reduction in paid admission with an increase in quality and a significant increase in prices
Advertising and Public Relations	0,9 / 0,7	3,3 / 3,3	378%
International relationships	0,9 / 1,0	3,2 / 2,9	348%

You can see that the list of the largest budget areas and the list of the largest paid areas intersect only in two cases: “health care” and “pedagogy”. This is the result of the fact that over the past few years the Ministry of Education and Science has reduced budget admissions by 1.5-2 times for the three most popular paid groups - “economics”, “law” and “management”. The reduction reflects, among other things, the policy of ousting frankly weak educational programs implemented by non-core universities that do not have sufficient personnel potential. This policy began with the “cutting” of budget admissions, but also affects paid ones: a number of universities have recently been curtailing relevant programs.

Traditionally, paid admission is carried out primarily in socio-economic and humanitarian areas, as well as medical ones. If in the structure of budget admission they occupy 27%, then in the structure of paid admission they account for about 87%. Natural sciences (directions of classical universities) occupy about 14% of the budget admission, while in the paid admission their share is slightly more than 2%. Technical sciences and technologies account for over 40% of the budget set and only 10% of the paid one. This structure is generally reproduced throughout the entire observation period (2011-2015) with variations within 3-5%. See table. 10.

Table 12. Structure of budget and paid admissions by branches of knowledge, 2011-2015

Budget reception		2015	2014	2013	2012	2011
	agricultural sciences, %	6,5	6,7	6,4	6,4	6,0
	humanitarian sciences, %	7,8	7,7	8,0	7,6	8,0
	natural Sciences, %	14,1	13,8	13,8	14,0	14,5
	medical sciences, %	8,6	8,5	7,3	6,9	7,1
	pedagogical sciences, %	10,6	11,2	11,5	11,8	11,1
	Social sciencies, %	10,5	11,0	12,0	13,0	13,4
	Technical science, %	41,9	41,1	41,0	40,3	40,0
	Total number of people enrolled	288 808	282 474	307 046	314 752	301 327
Paid reception		2015	2014	2013	2012	2011
	agricultural sciences, %	0,6	1,0	1,0	1,0	0,8
	humanitarian sciences, %	22,9	18,6	18,5	16,9	19,2
	natural Sciences, %	2,3	2,5	2,8	3,3	2,7
	medical sciences, %	12,3	11,0	11,2	9,9	11,2
	pedagogical sciences, %	6,1	4,7	4,6	4,6	3,9
	Social sciencies, %	45,1	53,8	53,1	53,0	52,3
	Technical science, %	10,7	8,3	8,7	11,3	9,8
	Total number of people enrolled	135 524	147 660	157 878	153 389	99 620*

Comparison of the quality of budget and paid reception - 2015

Traditionally, paid education is chosen by weaker students, and here the threshold is set - or not set - by the universities themselves.

More than half of the “C” students (average Unified State Exam score below 56) received paid tuition in 150 universities out of 412 included in the ranking (36%). This is a significant improvement on the situation - last year there were 198, almost half (48%).

Table 13. Distribution of universities by quality of budget and paid admission

The bulk of students who pay for their full-time education on their own are no longer “C” students. These are the “good guys”. What is the reason for this shift? Two assumptions can be made. First, the students of 2015 generally passed the Unified State Exam somewhat better. Secondly, polarization has occurred both between universities and within groups of areas. Students are ready to enroll in popular universities even on a paid basis, while outsiders are left with the weakest applicants, including those on a budget basis.

The charts below compare the quality of a budget set with the quality of a paid set. The Y axis shows the average score of the paid set, and the X axis shows the average score of the budget set. The color of the “peas” reflects the quality of the paid admission: green - average score above 70, white - average score below 70 and above 56, red - average score below 56. In classical universities, universities with “excellent” budget admission (average score above 70) paid places most often recruit “good” applicants (average score 56-70). In technical universities, where in the group as a whole there are more “good” students, up to half of the paid enrollment are “C” students (the average score is below 56), however, it is clear that “C” students are, as a rule, universities with a small enrollment.

Applicants and their families have become better able to discern the quality of educational programs and their contribution (as well as the contribution of the university brand) to the human capital of students. In 2015, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation for the first time published data on average earnings and professional employment of university graduates. If previously the information that graduates of top universities earn on average 1.5 times more than graduates of other universities in the same field was discussed at the level of individual cases, opinions and rumors (forming, however, public opinion), then this trend can now be considered proven.

There is a change in the structure of the state task - expansion of engineering areas, further reduction of socio-economic ones (due to economics and business informatics). It is assumed that the population has sufficient effective demand for programs in socio-economic and humanitarian areas, which makes it possible to do without increasing budget support.

Many universities that did not receive government assignments for the implementation of popular educational programs (economics, management, etc.) continued to admit applicants for them entirely on an extra-budgetary basis. This required staffing and information support for programs, which was significantly weakened at universities in this situation. The result is obvious: paid enrollment in these universities is declining, in other cases dropping to a level that is critical for the further continuation of such programs.

The risk zone here is for universities that enroll less than 30 students in paid programs that are not supported by budgetary enrollment in the relevant field. After all, firstly, a paid student, as a rule, is less prepared than one who entered a budget place, and therefore runs a greater risk of being among the unsuccessful ones. Secondly, such a student may stop studying not only due to poor academic performance, but also for financial reasons. Already in the third year, less than half of the initially enrolled paid students may remain, and the funds received from them will not be enough even to pay the necessary teachers.

2015 may become a milestone year for approximately 60% of currently operating purely extra-budgetary programs in the areas of economics, management, jurisprudence and other socio-economic and humanitarian areas: in 2016, these programs may stop new enrollment (in 2015 they recruited less than 30 people).

Dynamics of reception quality, 2011-2015

The highest quality of budget enrollment is consistently maintained in medical and socio-economic universities, and in the latter, during the period from 2011 to 2015, the “green zone” (average score above 70) significantly expanded. Agricultural universities remain mainly in the “red zone” (the average Unified State Exam score for the university is below 56). Among classical universities and technical universities, the proportions of “excellent”, “good” and “C” universities are approximately the same and remain unchanged. The quality of budget-funded admissions at pedagogical universities has noticeably improved.
The paid set generally maintains the same proportions, although with a certain shift towards lower scores.

Pricing strategies of universities in an economic downturn

Among universities offering paid programs in 2015, 47% increased prices compared to 2014, 36% kept them unchanged in nominal terms, 17% considered it necessary to reduce prices (we considered changes of more than 5 thousand rubles as significant). year). At the same time, 14 universities increased the average tuition fee for universities by 50-100 thousand rubles per year; 39 universities - 20-50 thousand rubles per year; 124 universities - 5-20 thousand rubles per year; 137 universities did not change the cost at all or changed it slightly (within 5 thousand rubles), 58 universities reduced the cost of education by 5-20 thousand rubles, and 8 universities - by 20-50 thousand rubles.

At the same time, behavior patterns—the distribution of universities into groups that increase and decrease prices—vary by area. preparation: in relation to socio-economic and humanitarian programs, on the one hand, and technical programs, on the other, universities often adhere to different strategies. Among technical areas, the share of programs that reduced the cost of training in 2015 is noticeably higher. Among socio-economic programs, the share of those that increased the cost of training relatively slightly (5-20 thousand rubles) prevails.

Thus, in the field of economics, 305 universities provided paid admission in 2015, of which 30 universities increased the cost by more than 20 thousand rubles per year, 95 universities - by 5-20 thousand rubles, and 18 universities reduced the cost by 5-20 thousand. 60 thousand rubles. In the field of “law,” 181 universities offered paid admission in 2015, of which 26 universities increased the cost by more than 20 thousand rubles per year, 63 universities — by 5-20 thousand rubles, and 6 universities reduced the cost by 5-60 thousand . rubles. At the same time, in the field of “informatics and computer engineering” more than a third of universities reduced prices by more than 5 thousand rubles, and in the field of “energy and power engineering” almost half of such universities.

Table 14. Changes in tuition fees by field of study, 2014-2015.


What are the differences in the pricing policies of capital and regional universities? Price range amongexpensive educational programs significantlyhigher than among moderately priced programs. At the same time, the proportions of expensive and inexpensive programs in different areas of training are approximately the same. We can distinguish three strategies for the pricing policy of universities: a single cost for all educational programs (demand is determined by the quality of the program and the reputation of the university); price differentiation of programs; segmenting programs into popular and unpopular.

Strong universities, as expected, set high minimum scores. In the “ten” strongest universities in terms of the quality of budget admissions, the average minimum score is 61.3 points (per subject for all universities) - versus 34.2 according to the Rosobrnadzor thresholds. The highest scores among the leading universities were achieved by MIPT, MEPhI, National Research University Higher School of Economics, and St. Petersburg Academic University - Scientific and Educational Center for Nanotechnologies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The lowest are MGIMO and Moscow State University. Lomonosov (however, this did not in any way affect the high quality of admission to these universities). But among the 74 universities from the “red” zone (the average Unified State Examination score of those enrolled in budget-funded places is below 56), not a single one has set a minimum threshold higher than the level proposed by Rosobrnadzor.

Only 15% of universities use minimum scores as a real tool for selecting applicants.

Universities with the highest passing scores in 2015:

• Baltic Federal University named after. I. Kant
• All-Russian Academy of Foreign Trade, Moscow
• State Institute of Russian Language named after. A.S. Pushkin, Moscow
• State University of Management, Moscow
• Kuban State University, Krasnodar
• Leningrad State University named after A.S. Pushkin, St. Petersburg
• Moscow State Humanitarian University named after M.A. Sholokhov
• Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics National Research University Higher School of Economics
• Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
• National research Tomsk Polytechnic University
• National research University "Higher School of Economics", Moscow
• National research Nuclear University "MEPhI", Moscow
• Novosibirsk National research state university
• Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation
• Russian Economic University named after. G.V. Plekhanov
• Samara State university
• St. Petersburg State university
• St. Petersburg National research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics
• Smolensk State university
• Tver State university
• Ural Federal University named after. B.N. Yeltsin
• Southern Federal University

Areas of training for which universities often set high passing scores.