Major Russian universities have significantly increased tuition fees, with some institutions raising prices by more than 30%, pushing annual tuition costs above 1 million rubles for certain programs, The Caspian Post reports, citing RBC.

Among the universities implementing substantial fee increases are Moscow State University, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE), Bauman Moscow State Technical University, and St. Petersburg State University.

At National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, tuition for the Mechatronics and Robotics program has risen by 37.5% to 550,000 rubles per year. The cost of studying Nuclear Physics and Technology and Engineering Physics has increased by 32.2%, reaching nearly 1.2 million rubles annually.

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology raised tuition fees for its Applied Mathematics and Physics and Applied Mathematics and Computer Science programs by a similar margin, with annual costs now exceeding 1 million rubles. At Bauman Moscow State Technical University, tuition for comparable programs increased by 27.3% to 699,000 rubles per year.

At HSE, the steepest increase was recorded in the Advertising and Public Relations program, where tuition rose by 37.4%, surpassing 1 million rubles annually. Tuition for Law increased by 34.6% to 700,000 rubles per year, while Economics and Management programs rose by nearly 30%, with annual fees ranging between 1 million and 1.1 million rubles. At Moscow State University, tuition for these fields increased by 20%, reaching 900,000 rubles per year.

Economics programs at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) saw tuition hikes of 21-25%, bringing annual costs to between 690,000 and 750,000 rubles. Meanwhile, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics raised tuition for its Economics and Business Planning program by 31.1%, to 695,000 rubles per year.

At St. Petersburg State University, tuition for physics, mathematics, and engineering programs increased by 10-13%. Ural Federal University raised fees for Management and Advertising and Public Relations programs by 14%, bringing annual tuition to 275,000 and 300,000 rubles, respectively. At Novosibirsk State University, tuition for the Physics program increased by 15% to 241,000 rubles per year.

The sharp rise in tuition fees follows the government's decision to eliminate 47,000 fee-paying university places across a number of academic disciplines. The reductions affected around 40 programs, including Economics, Management, Law, and Advertising and Public Relations, which authorities believe are producing more graduates than the labor market requires.

At the same time, the government has intensified efforts to steer students toward secondary vocational education as part of President Vladimir Putin’s initiative to provide industry and manufacturing sectors with a greater number of young skilled workers.

On June 18, Minister of Education and Science Valery Falkov stated that Russia has an oversupply of people with higher education and does not require such a large number of university graduates. According to Falkov, the longstanding demand for university education no longer corresponds to the actual needs of the country’s economy.