Ilya Prakhov - Candidate of Sciences in Economics, Associate Professor, Research Fellow, International Research Laboratory for Institutional Analysis of Economic Reforms, Center for Institutional Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics. Address: 20 Myasnitskaya St., 101000 Moscow, Russian Federation. E-mail: iprahov@hse.ru

Based on the data of cohort longitudinal study “Educational and Career Trajectories”, factors affecting absolute and relative expected returns on education (ROE) are investigated.Surveys of Moscow students show that academic performance assessed by Unified State Exam (USE) scores is an important predictor of students’ salary expectations. Besides, expected ROE also correlates positively with college selectivity. Students in private colleges expect to be paid lower than those in state universities. Social and cultural capital of the family (parental education, number of books at home) may influence salary expectations indirectly, through academic performance. Students from wealthier families expect to have a higher ROE than their disadvantaged peers, and so do boys as compared to girls. Students working part-time expect to be paid higher than non-working students after graduation but anticipate a lower return on investment in relative terms.