Tuition fees at Russian universities rose an average of 10.7% in 2026 from the year before.
At some institutions, fees climbed 20 to 30%, according to the Higher Education and Science Ministry.
The steepest increases came at universities that had relied heavily on commercial enrollment — a revenue stream that has since shrunk after the government capped the number of paid spots, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported.
In 2026, Russian universities faced the first-ever restrictions on paid enrollment as well as state-funded spots, Kommersant said. The cap covered 40 fields of study whose graduates authorities consider oversupplied in the labor market, including law, economics, management, advertising and public relations, and psychology.
Universities lost 47,000 paid spots as a result, Kommersant reported. The list of fields subject to paid-enrollment caps is set to shrink in 2027.
Universities attribute the tuition increases not only to the reduction in paid spots but also to rising costs, including faculty salaries and infrastructure maintenance, the publication said.
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