HSE Academic Council Sums Up the Results of Admission Campaign

© HSE University

For the first time, HSE University has moved up to second place based on the average score of applicants enroled on state-funded bachelor's programmes. The implementation of the concept of ‘four campuses — one university’ has led to an increase in the number of applicants and the quality of admissions at the regional campuses. As well as this, enrolment on online programmes has increased by more than 50%. Despite a slight reduction in the number of international applicants due to external factors, the university has maintained its rigorous selection policy for prospective students. Among foreign countries, China has the largest number of students applying for HSE’s master’s programmes.

When opening the meeting of the Academic Council, HSE University Rector Nikita Anisimov presented the Gold Honour Award to HSE Academic Supervisor Yaroslav Kuzminov.

Nikita Anisimov, Yaroslav Kuzminov, Alexander Shokhin

© HSE University

 ‘HSE University keeps on working and moving forward. We may have different circumstances, but this is a very strong organism, which has very many good features, such as academic honesty, the desire to search for useful things outside the university in addition to what we do inside, the belief that every person should have a choice and they should be responsible for it. This is the sense of academic freedom and academic equality which I hope every person who works or studies here feels,’ said Yaroslav Kuzminov.

Undergraduate and graduate enrolment

The number of first-year students (bachelors and masters, including students of online programmes and international students) at the university has tripled since 2010 up to 17,134 students — 1.6% more than last year.

Vyacheslav Bashev

This year, 26,495 prospective students applied for admission to undergraduate programmes. The overall number of applicants is slightly higher than last year, and while it decreased in Moscow, it dramatically increased in the regional campuses. Vyacheslav Bashev believes that this is the result of the ‘Four campuses — one university’ concept. Most students from Moscow and the Moscow region enroled at the Moscow campus (in total, slightly under 60% of new students), with the Republic of Tatarstan in third place, closely behind St. Petersburg.

All four campuses are among the top 15 Russian universities in terms of admission quality, with no other regional universities making this list.

This year 11,420 students applied for HSE master’s programmes, which is a 10.1% rise on last year.

Vyacheslav Bashev also spoke about organizing the admission campaign in 2023, using the universtity’s accumulated experience. In particular, the university will continue to implement the ‘Four campuses — one university’ concept, and plans to actively develop pre-enrolment tools for master's programmes.

Enrolment of international students in a separate competition

HSE Vice Rector Ivan Prostakov stated that the admission of international students has undergone significant changes this year. At the current time, we are unable to use social networks for international recruiting, students of partner universities from unfriendly countries won’t enrol on HSE master's degrees, the strengthening of the rouble has led to a strong rise in cost of tuition fees in Russia for overseas students, and the situation with air traffic and cross-border bank transfers is complicated.

Ivan Prostakov

Despite these difficulties, 1,572 international students enroled on HSE programmes: 939 on bachelor's programmes and 633 for master's studies.

It’s worth noting that even with a decrease in the number of applications, the university has maintained its rigorous selection criteria: only a quarter of those who applied for admission were successful. The fall in the numbers applying occurred primarily due to enrolment on fee-paying places being affected by logistical and financial difficulties. At the same time, enrolment on quota places increased by 16%.

The Faculty of Creative Industries leads the way in the number of international students enroling on both state-funded and fee-paying places on HSE bachelor’s programmes. The top 3 countries for admission to undergraduate programmes are Kazakhstan, Belarus and Uzbekistan.

In terms of the number of students enroled in master's degree programs,

Master’s programmes in social and economic sciences, humanities and computer science are the leaders in terms of number of students enroled. The share of undergraduates of Russian universities, including HSE University, has increased among those who have enroled. The top 3 countries by admission to master's programmes are China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

In 2023, the main adverse external factors affecting the ability of HSE to attract international students will remain. However, HSE plans to enrol at least 2,000 international students, including 800 students enroled on master’s programmes. In conditions of great uncertainty, the HSE international unit plans to intensify their long-term work to attract international applicants, taking into account changes in processes, markets and internal procedures. In particular, it is necessary to develop a comprehensive plan to promote the university in India and strengthen its presence in China.

Enrolment for online programmes

Programmes which are delivered entirely online have a unique place among HSE University degree programmes. There are currently 16 programmes — 4 bachelor's and 12 master's. HSE Vice-Rector Sergey Roshchin noted that this is an unusual market for the university and the usual processes for admission, promotion and interaction with applicants don’t always work for it. ‘All online programmes can be described as venture products in economic and management terms,’ adds Roshchin.

Sergey Roshchin

This year 958 students enroled on these programmes, a rise of 56% on last year. The share of the students enroled on HSE fee-paying programmes was 27%. However, according to Sergey Roshchin, it is difficult to compare this and last year's admission campaigns, since global markets are limited and the university’s cooperation with Coursera has been terminated.

The online degree market in Russia has huge development potential: over the past year the number of programmes has more than quadrupled. During periods of growth, it is quality that makes the difference, and this is a new challenge for HSE University: issues of quality standards and quality control are fundamental. Various universities, including several worthy competitors, are entering the market of online programmes. Major EdTech companies including Netology, with whom HSE implements three joint programmes, are involved in developing this market.

One of the key priorities for further development of online programmes at HSE is to increase the level of digital service at all stages of interaction between applicants and the university, from first click to the completion of the learning process, added Sergey Roshchin. One of the features of this type of service is the ability to react quickly and make fast decisions.

Portrait of the applicant

Ivan Gruzdev, Director for Internal Monitoring and Student Academic Development, spoke about the results of research into HSE applicants in 2022.

Ivan Gruzdev

Over 90% of applicants were satisfied with the work of the admissions committee, and in this field HSE University fares better than the vast majority of its competitors. In addition, according to the survey, almost all first-year students looking for housing options are aware of the accommodation services offered by HSE University.