This article considers the international context of quality issues in higher education, as well as those specifi c to Russia. The author describes the main reasons for quality issues to become more relevant (the decline of the welfare state, the spread and internationalization of higher education). A universal system of quality control is considered to be the most widely spread solution to the problem. The article presents results of 24 interviews with Russian university teachers. It is shown that, in Russia, state initiatives in the domain of transparency and accountability of universities are interpreted by the subjects of the reform mostly as further strengthening of the authoritarian power of the state, rather than the introduction of market rules. This confusion is likely due to the similarity of external appearances of both intentions: they both lead to the strengthening of control over universities.