Eight of Ten Top Rated Higher Educational Institutions in Russia are in Moscow

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Jan. 2 – Eight of the top ten rated higher educational institutions in the Russian Federation are in Moscow, according to the latest biennial RAEKH survey, yet another indication of the extreme centralization of the Russian Federation as far as the training of new elites are concerned.
    Moscow State University far outdistances all the others, and only two are beyond the ring road – St. Petersburg State University which ranks third and Yekaterinburg’s Urals Federal University which ranks eighth (newizv.ru/news/2025-01-02/nazvany-luchshie-vuzy-rossii-kakie-universitety-stali-kuznitsey-elity-434515).
    And even below the top ten, the extreme centralism of the Russian system is obvious: Of the 74 higher schools mentioned in the survey, 31 were in Moscow, and 13 more in St. Petersburg. Only 31 institutions listed were in other federal subjects of the Russian Federation, and they were found in just 20 of these, less than a quarter of all such territories.
    This pattern will continue to re-enforce the Moscow-centric nature of Russian elites well into the future and mean that then as often in the past any challenges to the centrist nature of the Russian states will emerge in Moscow or at most there and in St. Petersburg rather than in universities in the regions and republics.