Due to the introduction of result-oriented budgeting in Russia, the importance of precisely defining what various governmental bodies and the corresponding sectors of economy are supposed to achieve is on the rise. The eventual results of educational system are assumed to consist of three components: cognitive (the evaluation of the knowledge level according to the unified system), economical (the change in the human capital of graduates), and social (the evaluation of the level of socialization of graduates). The article offers certain indicators for these components, which can be calculated using available statistics. Possible applications of these indicators in the practical work of educational organizations are discussed. The suggested indicators are compared with those used by the Ministry of Education and Science of the RF in planning the budget.

Recent draft legislation introduces a new type of a state (municipal) educational institution to be known as an autonomous institution, and a new type of state (municipal) non-profit organization to go with it, to be known as a state (municipal) autonomous non-profit organization. The article describes the specific features of this new type of organization, considers the theoretical and practical aspects of their introduction. This innovation has also given rise to various objections and concerns, which are commented upon in the article.

The government policy in the sphere of funding colleges should pursue the following two goals: first, to improve the mechanism of funding colleges from the budget, and second, to diversify the sources of funding for the sector. The article analyzes different means and models for the funding of colleges. The drawbacks of the current mechanism for funding colleges from the budget are considered, and the reasons for these problems are discussed. The problems of establishing standards of per capita funding and of evaluating the efficiency of federal budget expenditures for funding colleges are also discussed. In order to diversify the sources of funding, the authorities need to use different financial incentives to attract investments in education: budget subsidies, grants, state and municipal guarantees, tax exemptions, etc.

The purpose of this article is to construct and analyze the ways to standardize per capita financing of colleges. The article considers the main problems encountered by colleges and government bodies in implementing the «money follows the student» principle. The author discusses how these methods should be adapted if some of the students pay for tuition, while the rest do not. Significant attention is paid to the differentiation of per capita funding depending on the real costs of different educational programs. The author also attempts to provide for a new organizational and legal status for colleges that is becoming available, namely that of an autonomous institution.

University Strategy in an Age of Uncertainty: the Effect of HIgher Education Funding on Old and New Universities // Higher Education Quarterly, Vol. 57. No. 1, January 2003, pp 24–47. Translated from the English by N. Dergunova

Sources of Funds and Quality Effects in Higher Education // Economics of Education Review 20 (2001) 289-295. Translated from the English by D. Erschler.

Government financing of higher professional education increases every year. Nevertheless, even given the increasing significance of higher education for the socio-economic development of the country, the federal legislation contradicts the ways in which constitutional guarantees in education are actually implemented. The state does not carry out its responsibilities with regard to providing students with a free education, nor with regard to guaranteeing equal rights of all citizens to education no matter where they live. This is evident from the disproportions in the per capita financing of students. The existing differentiation of the budget expenditures (per student) cannot be explained by current legislation, by traditional statistical research methods, or by international practice.

Schooling, Labor-force Quality, and the Growth of Nations // The American Economic Review. 2004. Vol. 90. No. 5. PP. 1184-1208. Translated from the English by E. Pokatovich.

The article describes the economic content of the concept of a basic education service and presents a new method to calculate the cost of such a service. This method is used to perform an approximate cost calculation for one of the Russian regions, and the results are compared with the actual statistical data. The article also offers recommendations on using the model for federal, regional and local levels of education management.

The author considers the creation of a loan system for students as one of the most important components of the modernization of the institutional structure of Russian education. The article attempts to describe such a system using modern economic theory. Particular attention is paid to the problems of creating the institution of student loans in a society with weak market institutions in general.

Professional training programs at colleges are in need of improvement in order to adapt to the ever-changing labor market. The article considers the relevant issues on the example of the Tomsk polytechnic university. Special attention is paid to the most efficient way of increasing the quality of training, namely by instituting continuous external control and evaluation of educational programs by national and international professional communities. The authors analyze the changes in the structure and content of educational programs so that they conform to national and international criteria for social and professional accreditation. The creation and certification of a quality management system at the college that would conform to international standards is also discussed. The authors analyze in detail the Bachelor’s degree program in electrical engineering, which is based on the university’s best traditions of engineering training.

The article presents an analysis of new trends in the management of education based on the experience of the State University – Higher School of Economics (SU-HSE). Since it’s founding in 1992, HSE has focused on choosing and introducing the most efficient forms of organization. Considering each introduced innovation one by one, the author analyzes the essence of each new form of organization, its impact on education at SU-HSE, how it was implemented, what the teachers and students think of it, and how it can be further developed.

The article presents a brief review of how the financing of higher education is changing, taking into account current trends, the increase in the number of students and the rising cost of education. In addition, the article considers the possible ways of switching from the funding of budget institutions of higher professional education to the funding of education programs. The following special features of funding Master’s Degree programs are discussed: 1) reimbursement of teaching expenses for budget organizations according to norms established by the government; 2) financing of education programs implemented by colleges at a cost established through competition between colleges.

St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg State University, Law Department January 19, 2006.
World Bank organized The Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) in St. Petersburg, Russia, from January 18 to January 19, 2006. A special feature of the 2006 ABCDE Conference was a half-day Policy Workshop «Education and Global Development». This workshop discussed the main education policy challenges under conditions of globalization and growing role of the knowledge economy. The Workshop agenda included issues of access and quality of primary education in development context, issues of labor market linkages, labor mobility and relevance of tertiary education. As education is a key development factor for countries and regions across the world and very important in the context of globalization, the conclusions of the Workshop could be a helpful contribution to Russia’s G8 2006 agenda.

Information on state investments in education and their comparison with the GNP is presented in this issue. Certain indicators are compared to their analogs in the educational systems of other OECD member countries. The article presents data concerning the volume of paid services in the educational system and consumer expenses of families for these purposes. Data about the number of college students who pay tuition are also presented. The article uses materials of the Federal Service of Governmental Statistics of the RF, and the OECD Education Online Database. The materials were prepared by I.Yu. Baturina, V.I. Kuznetsova, and O.K. Ozerova, senior researchers of the Center for Statistics and Education Monitoring of the Statistical Research Institute at the Higher School of Economics.

The problems that Russian colleges face when they change to the «Bachelor Studies + Master Studies» system from the traditional 5-year cycle is usually analyzed from the viewpoint of the organization of the educational process. This article attempts to consider this same problem from a student’s standpoint. Empirical material collected in the Higher School of Economics showed that the strategies adopted by students (their choice of final degree) differ depending on the year of studies and the faculty where they study. However, interest is shown not to the entire system, but rather only to the Masters program, as students believe Bachelors diplomas not to be sufficient for the job market. The readiness of students to integrate into a unified European educational space is largely influenced by how well they are informed about the changes.

The article analyzes the main socio-economic factors influencing the accessibility of higher education of differing quality in modern Russia. Social differentiation is discerned in the dependency of the probability to receive a higher education of a given quality (elite or standard) on certain socio-demographic features (for example, the income level or the education level of the parents, etc). Analysis of the empirical data shows that there is a considerable differentiation of colleges in the type of the education offered, the teaching quality, the prestige of the awarded diplomas, and the positions offered to graduates in the job market. These colleges also differ in the difficulty of admission and of studies. Therefore, both the motives and the social background of candidates differ significantly. Regression analysis shows that the types of family capital that influence the accessibility of higher education in general and the accessibility of «elite» education are different. Those admitted to elite colleges are usually graduates of Moscow and Saint Petersburg schools with high academic achievements, or graduates of grammar schools. Attending preparatory courses or preparing with a private teacher from the particular college are also significant factors.

The article analyzes the opinions expressed in the media and historiography concerning the role of charters in the history of Russian universities in the 19th and early 20th century. The author arrives at the conclusion that in the course of time the charters tended to become symbols rather than to serve as the main legislation of university life. All the time the charters existed, they were considered mostly to be symbols of autonomy. The latter was interpreted differently under different ideologies and in different historical periods. Debates about the role of university charters do not only concern the boundaries of the self-government of universities, they are also related to the image of a particular university that exists or used to exist in the public consciousness.

Information and Communication Technologies in Schools. A Handbook for Teachers or How ICT Can Create New, Open Learning Environments (Author Alexey Semenov, edited by Jonathan Anderson, published by UNESCO, Division of Higher Education, Paris, 2005. PP. 240).