Falkov announced the transition to a new model of higher education in three years

The final smooth transition to a new model of higher education in Russia is expected in the next three years. This was stated on June 23 by the Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Valery Falkov during a report to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to the head of the Ministry of Education and Science, the department maintains high accessibility of higher education. In 2026, 620,481 budget places were set for admission, which exceeds the figures of the previous year.

According to Falkov, the main part of budget places — 73%, or more than 454 thousand — is distributed among regional educational institutions. Universities in the Sverdlovsk, Rostov, Novosibirsk, Tomsk and Samara regions received the maximum number of vacant positions.

"We traditionally allocate the largest number of budget places for the training of engineers...> If in numbers, <...> 263,816 places. As well as teachers, specialists in the field of healthcare and agriculture," Falkov said.

The head of the department clarified that in 2026, more than 83 thousand places have been allocated for targeted admission. The largest number of quotas is provided for medical referrals. The Minister stressed that currently Russian universities are ready for the admission campaign, and the entire system is focused on staffing the country.

"In order to make it easier for applicants this year to choose a university and a specialty, to correlate their USE scores with the passing scores of previous years, a special additional service "University Selection" has appeared on the Gosuslug portal," Falkov added.

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Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko announced on June 8 that, according to the new higher education system in Russia, basic education will take from four to six years, and specialized education programs are designed for a period of one to two years. He stressed that Russia had used the most successful elements of the Bologna system, but now it was time to form its own independent education model.