Higher Education Changes Course

Starting in 2027, Russian universities will begin transitioning to a new higher education model for specific consolidated groups of specializations. The Ministry of Education and Science expects to complete the transition within three years. Students who are already enrolled or will enroll in bachelor's and master's programs under current rules will be able to complete their studies, and diplomas with "bachelor's" and "master's" qualifications will remain valid.

2+4=6

But before examining the new system, it's worth recalling what exactly we're gradually moving away from. In recent years, higher education in the country has been organized predominantly according to the Bologna model: four years of bachelor's studies followed by two years for a master's degree. Its fundamental difference from the specialist degree was that higher education was divided into two independent stages. After completing a bachelor's degree, a student could immediately enter the job market or continue their education—and not necessarily at the same university.

This structure gave students more freedom in building their educational trajectory. Another advantage was standardization: common approaches to the volume and structure of education made it possible to compare programs at different universities, while the credit system allowed for assessment of academic workload. This was especially important for academic mobility: transferring between universities and continuing education at another institution or country was easier to arrange when a unified frame of reference existed.

At the same time, standardization had its flip side. In the Russian implementation of the Bologna system, educational programs were largely formed within established requirements for structure, content, and scope of training. This gave universities clear rules of the game, but simultaneously limited the ability to completely restructure education for a specific profession, industry, or employer. In the new model, by contrast, universities are meant to have more room for independent program design.

This raises the reform's central question: what exactly should change—just the names and sequence of education levels, or the very principle of training specialists? If universities gain more freedom, this will enable them to create programs for specific professions and economic demands. But at the same time, more diverse educational trajectories will appear on the market, making it harder for employers to compare specialists with one another.

Learning in "one cycle"

The new model includes two levels of higher education—basic and specialized—while classifying graduate school as an independent level of professional education. Basic education is meant to be self-sufficient: its purpose is to give graduates a qualification sufficient for entering the job market without mandatory continuation of studies. The duration of study will range from four to six years and will depend on the specialty and program content.

After basic education, students will have several options. They can immediately enter the workforce, continue with a specialized higher education program, or—if their basic program lasted at least five years—apply to graduate school. In other words, specialized education does not become a mandatory stage between university and graduate school.

Specialized higher education is intended for those who need more in-depth training after a basic program. This category includes master's programs, residency, and assistantship-internship. The duration of specialized education programs ranges from one to three years. This is not a second "mandatory" stage of higher education, as the master's degree was in the previous 4+2 model, but rather an additional trajectory for those who require more narrow professional or research training.

Graduate school, meanwhile, is being moved outside the two levels of higher education and is becoming an independent level of professional education. Its purpose remains essentially the same—training research and academic personnel—but its place in the educational trajectory is changing. Graduates no longer need to first obtain specialized higher education: with a basic program lasting at least 5 years, they can apply to graduate school directly after completing it.

This creates several pathways: basic education → work; basic → specialized education; basic education of 5+ years → graduate school; specialized education → graduate school. Unlike the "bachelor's → master's" scheme, continuing one's studies here is not tied to a single mandatory scenario.

At the same time, specialized education doesn't simply mean "a few more years of study." Its necessity depends on one's professional trajectory. For one graduate, basic training is sufficient to begin working as an engineer or chemist, another will require additional specialization, and a third will need research training.

The language of the diploma is also changing. Instead of generalized qualifications, specific formulations understandable to employers should be indicated: for example, "process engineer," "data engineer," "expert chemist," "research chemist," "mining engineer," "metallurgical engineer," or "research engineer (design engineer)." This should allow employers to understand not only a candidate's level of education, but also the specific qualification they obtained.

The pilot has moved beyond the experiment

The state began testing how such a model works in practice in 2023. The first wave of the pilot included Immanuel Kant BFU, MAI, MISIS, MPGU, SPGU, and TSU. From 2023 to 2025, over 33,500 people enrolled in pilot programs.

In 2026, the first 6 universities switched to admissions exclusively through new educational programs. In January, the pilot was extended until the 2029/30 academic year and expanded from 6 to 17 participants, offering admission to 581 updated educational programs. At these universities, 42,400 state-funded places have been allocated this year for basic and specialized higher education programs.

For comparison, the entire higher education system has over 620,000 state-funded places, of which 371,000 places are allocated to full-time bachelor's and specialist programs in the 2026/27 academic year. For now, the new model remains a relatively small segment, but within the pilot itself it has already moved beyond a limited experiment.

The Ministry of Education and Science emphasizes that the pilot should test how feasible it is to make the new system simultaneously fundamental, flexible, and practice-oriented, as well as how much more closely university programs can be linked with employers within its framework.

Universities are being asked to build programs together with employers

Immanuel Kant BFU was among the six initial pilot participants. In a conversation with Argument Media, press service staff clarified:

"Within the project, the emphasis was placed not on opening new educational programs, but on completely reworking existing ones. At the same time, the main objectives were preserving fundamental knowledge and creating flexible, practice-oriented programs," BFU reported.

The university cites co-designing programs with employers as one of the key changes—from shaping the profile of future graduates to defining specific tasks in laboratories and at production facilities. The share of practical training in programs has increased: up to 30% at the base level and up to 10% in master's programs.

A prime example is the Chemistry program, which BFU launched together with OOO "RENERA" of the Rosatom State Corporation. Students can choose 4, 5, or 6 years of study depending on their educational track. Operations engineers, process chemists, design chemists, and research chemists require different amounts of training. A student who chooses the five-year course spends at least 40% of their study time at production facilities.

A similar logic is used in the "Applied Physics of High-Tech Industries" program, created together with OKB "Fakel" of the Roscosmos State Corporation. Here the study period is extended to 5 years to accommodate fundamental training and practical work. In the "Physics of High Technologies" program, students can choose elective modules and specializations in materials science, engineering, microelectronics, and high technologies.

BFU also notes a shift in applicant interest. In 2026, the average Unified State Exam score in the general competition rose to 79.6 points versus 75.4 in 2025—an increase of 4.2 points. The number of applications reached nearly 60,000, up 13% year-over-year. The university attributes this momentum in part to the transition to the new higher education model.

MAI is changing not just timelines but the structure of programs

MAI was also among the first six pilot participants. In 2023, the university transitioned 40% of its educational programs to the new model, and by 2024 it became one of the first universities to transform all programs for which enrollment is conducted under base and specialized higher education.

The institute considers abandoning the mandatory "4 years of bachelor's—2 years of master's" sequence one of the main distinctions of the new system. At MAI, base programs run 4–5.5 years, while specialized programs run 1–2 years.

At the same time, the organization of the educational process itself is changing. Instead of a rigidly defined set of disciplines, modules are used—blocks of instruction unified around a single professional theme, which students can choose depending on their future specialization. In the first and second years, everyone completes a common educational core and builds a fundamental foundation, and starting in the third year they can choose an object, professional role, and specialization. For example, a student who chooses to work with spacecraft can specialize in structural strength.

"With the transition to the new educational model, MAI has moved away from the standard curricula that existed in bachelor's, specialist, and master's programs, and made them more flexible by implementing a modular structure," the university reported.

Another distinction that MAI emphasizes is training comprehensive engineers. This involves not only knowledge in a specific narrow field, but also the ability to work with a product's life cycle, project costs, and modern tools including artificial intelligence, machine learning, digital twins, and supercomputer modeling.

According to MAI data, applicant interest in the new programs has grown for 3 consecutive years. While about 13,500 applications were submitted in 2024, there were 15,500 in 2025 and over 20,000 in 2026. The average score of applicants entering on a competitive basis rose from 81.41 to 86.46.

In 2026, Bauman Moscow State Technical University also transitioned to the new programs. The university only joined the pilot at this stage, so comparing its experience with the first six is only possible based on the results of the first admissions campaign.

At Bauman University, the primary focus in developing programs has been on preserving fundamental education while simultaneously rethinking engagement with artificial intelligence technologies, IT curriculum content, and practical training. Students begin immersing themselves in their professional specialization from their first year.

"The key priority in developing curricula was preserving the deep fundamental approach that has been Bauman's calling card for many years. At the same time, we needed to radically rethink our engagement with AI technologies, the continuity of IT education, and its relevance," said Ivan Sidelnikov, executive secretary of the admissions committee and dean of the Engineering Business and Management faculty at Bauman Moscow State Technical University.

Another important change here is employer participation in developing educational programs. According to the university, their recommendations influence program structure and the set of competencies graduates acquire.

How this differs from the specialist degree

This is where the main question about the new model arises. If a student can study in the basic program for 4, 5, or 6 years, and then if necessary spend another 1, 2, or 3 years obtaining specialized education, then outwardly such a trajectory does indeed resemble the existing specialist degree or the bachelor's-master's combination.

However, the difference should manifest in the structure of the program itself. At MAI, we're talking about a modular structure in which students gradually choose their subject area, professional role, and specialization. At BFU, the duration and content of education are tied to specific professional tracks, with a significant portion of training taking place directly in production settings. At Bauman, they're simultaneously preserving the fundamental foundation while restructuring it to account for AI, IT disciplines, and practical training.

Thus, the new model differs from the specialist degree not so much in the number of years of study as in the principle of constructing the educational trajectory. The duration and content of training should be determined by the specific qualification, professional task, and industry, while students gain more opportunities to choose their specialization within the program.

"The main difference lies in the goal-setting. The pilot project aims to ensure graduates leave university ready to work, meeting the needs of the national economy and contributing to Russia's technological leadership," says Ivan Sidelnikov.

At the same time, it's too early to fully compare the results of the new system with existing formats. The first 6 universities began admitting students to new programs in 2023, but the first graduates from four-year basic higher education programs won't emerge until 2027. Starting in 2024, first-wave universities have already begun graduating students who completed one-year specialized higher education programs.

That's precisely why the bulk of available data currently relates to admissions and educational organization, rather than long-term labor market outcomes.

Whether this structure will become a genuine replacement for the bachelor's and master's degrees will become clear after the first basic higher education graduates and the appearance in the labor market of a significant number of specialists with new qualifications. For now, the pilot primarily demonstrates how the approach to program design itself is changing: universities gain more freedom in choosing the duration and content of education, while students' professional trajectories become more flexible.