Зоны миграционного притяжения университетских центров России

Региональные исследования. 2026. № 1(91). С. 34–47.

Karachurina L. B., Mkrtchyan N. V.

Migration for higher education is one of the largest and most intense migration flows in most developed countries, and Russia is no exception. The direction of educational migration flows is determined by many factors. Among these, traditionally significant determinants of the basic gravity model include the population size of the centers participating in migration exchange and the distances between them. In modern conditions, distances influence migration not only directly through the kilometers traveled, but also indirectly: through the geography of cities, the presence or absence of centers and subcenters in regions; through the decades-old network of universities and higher education centers, their status and recognition, and their affiliation with “their” or foreign region. The aim of this study is to analyze the sizes of migration attraction zones for 160 educational centers in Russia, obtained based on “incoming” migration flows from all municipalities of the country. Calculations were made for 18-year-old migrants for 2011–2021. Russian municipalities vary significantly in the outbound, unidirectional or multidirectional nature of student migration flows. Centers with extensive interregional student migrant aggregation zones and those that are purely intraregional centers are distinguished. High competition for applicants often prevents relatively large and developed university cities from exerting a dominant influence even within their own region. The size of the resulting aggregation zones of Russian cities, which ensure an influx of student migrants, depends on the population size of the centers themselves and the composition of the aggregation zone (whether or not it includes large cities), but has little to do with its area. While universities are important, the overall migration attractiveness of the centers and the direction of migration processes in the country also influence the directions of student migration.

Keywords: абитуриенты, образование, города, муниципальные образования, education, учебная миграция, cities, municipalities, миграция молодежи, educational migration, applicants, zones of influence, youth migration, зоны влияния

Publication based on the results of: Demographic situation analysis and projections for the Russian Federation. Development of recommendation on population and migration policy (2025)