The Bachelor’s degree is the initial step in the Bologna system of higher education, which Russia joined in 2003. Prior to that, universities were teaching specialist programs. Russia’s accession to the Bologna System made it easier for foreign applicants to enter Russian universities.
Today, Russian education consists of three stages: Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree and postgraduate studies. The only exceptions are medical and some technical fields, where specialist training is still offered. This is something to keep in mind when choosing a program.
Bachelor’s and Specialist’s Degree Programs
There are two main differences between bachelor’s and specialist’s degrees: the length of the program and your academic prospects after graduation.
Bachelor’s programs last four years. Russian universities organize the process of studying at the Bachelor’s level with the possibility to choose subjects and disciplines, building an individual educational trajectory. In their final year, students write their final qualification work and defend it in front of a commission. The Bachelor’s degree allows students to continue their education in the Master’s program, but does not entitle them to enter graduate school.
Specialized degree programs focus students on practical work in their chosen field. It takes from 5 to 6 years to complete the program. After passing the state exams and defending the diploma, graduates get a specialist diploma, which gives the right to continue training in Master’s or PhD programs.
How do I enter Bachelor’s and Specialist’s degree programs in Russia?
You can always find information about the rules of admission in our detailed guide – 5 steps to enter a Russian university.
You can apply to Bachelor’s and Specialist’s programs after high school or college. Choose the profession, university, and program that you like best.
In Russia you can study both for a fee and at the expense of the budget of the Russian Federation. There are many state scholarships available to foreign applicants at Russian universities for free undergraduate programs.
Most of the training is in Russian, but every year there are more and more programs entirely in English. Note that the cost of Russian-language programs is usually lower compared to English-language programs. Before admission to Bachelor’s programs, you can first complete a language course at the preparatory department – they are available at any university.
After successful completion of the entrance test, all international students receive a Russian study visa, and starting in 2020 you also have the right to work officially from the very first year of study. You can learn more about this here.
Russian universities offer more than 50 fields of study, from architecture and history to nuclear power. Below are bachelor’s and specialist degree programs in various fields.
I. Kant Baltic Federal University is located in the westernmost region of Russia, in the city of Kaliningrad. The university has an honorary status of Federal University of the Russian Federation and translates the best practices of Russian science in Europe. The university offers more than 120 programs of different levels and directions for foreign applicants. These include both technical and humanities programs: biology, graphic design, land management and cadastre, computer science and programming, history, computer electronics and information technology, world economics, multimedia design and animation, linguistics and philology, political science, psychology, sociology, chemistry, and others. One of the most popular programs among applicants is Finance and Investment Management. Graduates of the program become experts in managing financial flows in organizations and work in leading Russian and international financial sector companies. At BFU you can also get a medical education: the training center implements training in the specialist program Medical Business. The program is designed for 6 years, training is conducted both in Russian and in English. Students master more than 70 disciplines, including biology, biochemistry, anatomy, histology, physiology, pharmacology, obstetrics and gynecology, therapy, surgery, pediatrics, neurology, psychiatry, rehabilitation, and others.
Among the more than 300 educational programs of Far Eastern Federal University the English-language Molecular Biotechnology undergraduate program is now popular. Students study microbiology, molecular biology and biochemistry. Graduates work as specialists in private and government biomedical research projects.