Postgraduate studies in Russia

Main article: Education in Russia

2024

The number of foreign graduate students in Russia for the year increased to 12,400

In the period from 2014 to 2024, the number of foreign citizens studying at the Russian graduate school more than doubled and reached 12.4 thousand people. Such data are contained in a study by the Institute for Statistical Research and Knowledge Economics of the Higher School of Economics, the results of which were published in February 2026. The method of accounting for relevant applicants is used in the Rosstat database.

The largest number of students arrived from China - 4.7 thousand people, which is almost 39% of the total contingent. The top five countries in terms of the number of graduate students also included Kazakhstan (938 people, about 8%), Syria (724 people, almost 6%), Uzbekistan (435 people, almost 4%) and Iraq (388 people, 3%). The representative of the press service of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation said that data on those enrolled in graduate school for the 2025/26 academic year will appear in May 2026.

HSE experts note that the integration of foreign graduates into the Russian scientific sector is difficult due to the lack of scientific leaders who speak English, barriers to recognizing foreign diplomas, as well as restrictions on labor rights during the training period.

At the same time, the press service of Rossotrudnichestvo reported an increase in the number of applications for training in the Russian graduate school under the government quota. For the 2026/27 school year, 6465 applications were submitted, which is 21% more than the 2025/2026 figure (5345 applications). The share of those enrolled in the 2025/26 academic year was 41% of the number of applicants, while a year earlier this figure was 30%.

The representative of Rossotrudnichestvo noted that foreigners are in demand for programs in the field of management, international relations, dentistry, as well as rapidly gaining popularity in areas related to artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation.^[1]

The number of graduate students in Russia for the year increased to 126 thousand people

The number of graduate students in Russian universities reached 126 thousand people at the end of 2024. The growth was a third of the 2019 figure, when 84.3 thousand students studied in graduate school. The data was published in early July 2025.

According to Vedomosti, the statistics were prepared by the Institute for Statistical Research and Economics of Knowledge of the Higher School of Economics based on calculations according to Rosstat. The proportion of men among graduate students was almost 73% in 2024, compared to 52% in 2015.

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Фото: Unsplash

The most significant increase in arrivals occurred in 2022. If in 2021 about 28 thousand people were enrolled in graduate school, then next year - over 45.1 thousand, which is 38% more. This period coincided with the beginning of a special military operation in Ukraine and the announcement of partial mobilization.

According to Russian legislation on military duty, full-time graduate students have the right to a deferral from conscription. The presidential decree of September 2022 also provides them with a delay from mobilization.

The average age of postgraduate students is increasing. If in 2015 a third of graduate students were under 25 years old, then in 2024 one in three was over 29 years old. Researchers note the formation of a trend towards later and conscious admission to graduate school.

In 2024, almost 12% of graduate students represented the age group of 30-34 years. One in ten were 35-39 and 11% were aged 40 or over. About half of the graduate students represented an age cohort of 25-29 years old, one in five was younger than 24 years old.

In total, 35.7 thousand people entered graduate school programs in 2024. Almost half of them chose to study the humanities and social sciences. The leading specialties were the "regional and sectoral economy" with more than 3 thousand applicants and "management" with over 1.7 thousand students.^[2]

2022: Acceptance of the maximum number of graduate students in 10 years - 45,100 people

During 2022, 45,100 people began postgraduate studies in Russia, which is 1.5 times more than a year earlier (28 thousand students). The 2022 figure was a record for the Russian Federation for 10 years, according to a study by the Institute for Statistical Research and Data Economics of the Higher School of Economics. The data was released in mid-May 2023.

The authors of the report point out that the increase in the number of graduate students occurred both "due to an increase in the attractiveness of a scientific career" and under the influence of "external factors." Including people go to graduate school due to a delay from the army.

formations RANEPA Boris Ilyukhin, director of the FIRO Research Center for Quality Assessment and Management Systems, does not consider this to be a key factor. According to him, "graduate school requires high employment and provides little finance," so it is "difficult to imagine" that they go there only to avoid conscription.

Also in any institution there is a commission - it is interested in accepting those who want to do science and get to the writing of a candidate. It makes no sense for the commission to accept people so that they are simply listed, "Ilyukhin added.

According to the study, the most popular scientific specialties among graduate students in the Russian Federation in 2022 were economics (22.9%), law (10.2%), information technology and telecommunications (6.2%), pedagogy (5.7%). In 2022, 13,900 people completed their postgraduate studies, 12.9% of them defended their dissertations, which is also higher than the previous five years.

According to the results of the study, 67.6% of the surveyed graduate students intend to continue working in the academic environment (universities or schools) after defending their dissertation, 27.7% want to work outside science and higher education, 12.1% plan to engage in research. It is noted that 78.3% of the surveyed graduate students want to work in Russia, 6% think about leaving for more than three months, 2% of respondents want to leave the Russian Federation forever.^[3]

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