Number of higher education students in Russia 2010-2023

Over 4.3 million students were enrolled in Russian higher education institutions in 2023. The number of students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs in the country decreased from 2010, when it exceeded seven million, but has grown in recent years.

Leading Russian universities

The Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) ranked first in the list of top universities in Russia, according to the QS World University Rankings 2025, which placed it 94th worldwide. The Bauman Moscow State Technical University ranked first by faculty-to-student ratio in the country. The third place in the domestic ranking was occupied by the RUDN University in Moscow, which ranked 316th in the world. 

Job search after the university in Russia

In 2022, roughly seven in ten Russians who graduated from the university in the three previous years were employed in a field related to their studies. Furthermore, approximately one half of graduates from top 30 universities in Russia were willing to move abroad for better job opportunities in 2020. Around 40 percent of Russian Generation Z representatives felt anxious or stressed thinking about their job and career prospects.