The Plekhanov Russian University of Economics (PRUE) is introducing several new degree programs this academic year. What subjects will first-year students study as part of these new programs? Did the university meet its enrollment targets this year? The university’s First Prorector, Leonid Bragin, answered these and other questions in an interview with Rossiya Segodnya correspondent.
Mr. Bragin, how did the university’s enrollment drive go this year?
Leonid Bragin: It went really well. Over the past few years we have practically eliminated our waiting list of applicants, although this year we had almost a 50 percent increase over last year. There were no complaints about the Admissions Commission, which received 32,160 applications for full-time attendance alone. And government grants have been awarded to 1,066 undergraduate students, some of whom are enrolled in bachelor’s programs in applied fields and some of whom are enrolled in specialist programs.
What can you say about the quality of applicants?
Leonid Bragin: The average applicant’s score was 244.3, without counting applicants for applied bachelor’s programs. The average score for enrollees was 252.1. These figures are lower than last year, but we expected this once we learned what the average score on the Uniform State Exam was. Nonetheless, the average score of admitted applicants is at the same level as in 2012.
We have good students attending this year. We’re pleased with the selection. On September 1 we held convocation ceremony and issued student IDs. First-year students in all departments took part in an economics game. This gave them a good impression of the university’s atmosphere.
Have you awarded government grants to students from Crimea and Sevastopol and refugees from Ukraine?
Leonid Bragin: Yes, our university took part in this initiative. We accepted the proposal of the Ministry of Education and Science and awarded government grants to applicants from Crimea and Ukraine. Nine applicants from Crimea matriculated at our main campus in Moscow and seven were enrolled at our affiliate in Sevastopol. We have also accepted 17 Ukrainian citizens on scholarship. The enrollment drive is still going on because the Ministry of Education and Science extended the deadline for accepting this category of applicants.
What departments and fields of study were most popular with new students
Leonid Bragin: The International Business School, which conducts all courses in English, has traditionally been the most popular. We even had to create an additional group that is ineligible for subsidies because there were too many highly qualified applicants. The Finance Department was also popular, all the more so since experts and the media describe it as one of the best in the country. There was a lot of competition for the Department of International Economic Relations, and for advertising and public relations.
Our enrollment figures this year show that young people continue to be interested in studying economics, management, finance and law.
Technical fields were not as popular. I’m referring to supervisors in the food service industry or specialists related to product merchandising and quality control. I don’t understand why, because job prospects in these fields are very good; there is lots of demand for specialists, especially now that the state is paying so much attention to the quality of consumer goods. Naturally, there was competition for these programs as well and we met our enrollment targets, but, to be honest, we expected more.
Do you require additional exams in English for applicants to the International Business School?
Leonid Bragin: Yes, applicants have to come in for an interview in English. To avoid setting students up for disappointment, we spend a lot of time talking with parents, trying to bring it home to them that if their children are not fluent in English, they would be simply unable to keep up with the coursework.
Do you have new degree programs this year?
Leonid Bragin: This year we introduced three new master’s degree programs – commerce, law and hotel management. We’ve also begun, for the first time, bachelor’s degree programs in economic security and customs affairs. We inherited the latter from the Russian State University of Trade and Economics. We don’t have any experience with this discipline, but applicants are interested in this program despite the existence of the Russian Customs Academy, which specializes in this.The International Business School, which conducts all courses in English, has traditionally been the most popular. We even had to create an additional group that is ineligible for subsidies because there were too many highly qualified applicants. The Finance Department was also popular, all the more so since experts and the media describe it as one of the best in the country. There was a lot of competition for the Department of International Economic Relations, and for advertising and public relations.
Our enrollment figures this year show that young people continue to be interested in studying economics, management, finance and law.
Technical fields were not as popular. I’m referring to supervisors in the food service industry or specialists related to product merchandising and quality control. I don’t understand why, because job prospects in these fields are very good; there is lots of demand for specialists, especially now that the state is paying so much attention to the quality of consumer goods. Naturally, there was competition for these programs as well and we met our enrollment targets, but, to be honest, we expected more.
Do you require additional exams in English for applicants to the International Business School?
Leonid Bragin: Yes, applicants have to come in for an interview in English. To avoid setting students up for disappointment, we spend a lot of time talking with parents, trying to bring it home to them that if their children are not fluent in English, they would be simply unable to keep up with the coursework.
Do you have new degree programs this year?
Leonid Bragin: This year we introduced three new master’s degree programs – commerce, law and hotel management. We’ve also begun, for the first time, bachelor’s degree programs in economic security and customs affairs. We inherited the latter from the Russian State University of Trade and Economics. We don’t have any experience with this discipline, but applicants are interested in this program despite the existence of the Russian Customs Academy, which specializes in this.
How has your university gone about improving the academic process?
Leonid Bragin: Our methodological department is completing a revision of all academic plans as part of our transition to third-generation educational standards. We believe the new academic plans will allow us to harmonize educational programs, combine groups and improve the quality of education by reducing the number of disciplines.
After merging with the Russian State University of Trade and Economics, we had too many subjects. Now we are actively reducing their number by combining several minor subjects to form a bigger field. This will allow our students to concentrate on specific fields and we’ll be able to reduce the number of exams and tests, which is also in their interests.
In addition, we have increased the number of hours of independent study and reduced the amount of lectures. To get more out of students’ independent study, we developed special tools for monitoring and communicating with students. In principle, we are following standard practices at advanced European universities.
Have you adapted your programs to meet international standards? Is this a goal of yours?
Leonid Bragin: We’ve pursued this goal for a rather long time. A number of our departments have exchange programs with foreign universities. We have partnerships with universities in Germany, France, Sweden and Austria. Recently we’ve expanded ties with Chinese universities too. Our students study at partner universities for a semester or year, and we take their students.
To prevent exchange programs from becoming vacations in interesting foreign cities, we coordinate academic plans.
Do you award dual degrees?
Leonid Bragin: Yes, but not on a very large scale. That said, we have awarded them for many years.
Online education is making rapid progress. Is your university active in this new trend in education?
Leonid Bragin: Yes, we are taking part in the Russian online educational project Universarium. Our professors teach online courses as part of the project. We are also developing a distance learning department. We’ve already accumulated a huge stock of lectures and methodological materials, and we’ve gained experience in using new teaching technologies.
It is very important for us to make sure our applicants and their parents understand that the quality of our classes and professors is very high. And so I’d advise them to check out the lectures at Universarium and the university’s new and improved website. It contains a lot of information about academic and student life and research carried out at our university. I think parents will see that their children are studying or will be studying at one of the country’s best economics universities.
