The students chose the TOP 5 regions for admission to the university

Russian EdTech-POVUZAM Company, a portfolio project of the Frontiers of Science Guild (partner Decades of Science and Technology), conducted a study of the preferences of schoolchildren when choosing a university. It turned out that 21% of high school students decide on a place of study only in their senior year, and 30% make a final decision only after passing the Unified State Exam.

The survey covered 900 graduating students from nine regions of the Central, North-Western, Volga, and Siberian Federal Districts. The study was conducted from May 15 to May 31, 2025.

The main expectation of applicants is "an interesting learning process," 65% of respondents named it. For 26%, a useful environment becomes an important factor: they expect to gain the necessary social connections and contacts during their student years. The same number (26%) hope for the opportunity to work from the first year, which is especially important for those who do not get to budget places. In open questions, students also noted that with low USE scores , the key factor in choosing is the cost of tuition.

One of the survey participants from the Perm Region shared:

The main factor is the possibility of admission. In my situation and, I'm sure, most ordinary people in Russia, after receiving the results, have little choice but the nearest cheap place of study. At the same time, the quality of training will undoubtedly be low.

Regardless of the results of the Unified State Exam, 10.7% of schoolchildren consider admission exclusively to universities in their region. The remaining 89.3% are ready to move for the study period.

Top 5 regions that attract applicants the most:

• Moscow — 25%
• Kazan — 14.3%
• Saint-St. Petersburg — 13.7%
• Perm — 12.4%
• Tyumen and Yekaterinburg — 11.5% each

However, as the authors of the study emphasize, this rating reflects the applicants' desires rather than their real capabilities. Supply and demand coincide only in Moscow, where 25% of the respondents want to study, while 20.83% of all students in the country actually study. In other cities, the gap is significant: 13.7% choose St. Petersburg, while 7.57% study there; Kazan attracts 14.3% of applicants, but accepts only 3.36% of Russian students.

Half of those who see themselves as St. Petersburg students, and two-thirds of those who dream of becoming a Kazan student, will eventually receive a diploma in other regions, as the number of places in universities increases. Saint-St. Petersburg and Kazan are limited, " the researchers note.

An additional complication is created by the discrepancy between the dates of receipt of the results of the Unified State Exam and the end of the acceptance of documents. The latest results (in foreign languages and computer science) will be announced on June 23, and in subjects completed on reserve days — on June 27 and 29 . Admission of documents to universities with internal tests ends on July 15, in the rest — on July 25. Thus, graduates have literally a couple of weeks to make one of the most important decisions in life.

Oksana Ashirova, founder and head of POVUZAM, commented on the situation.:

Starting in 2023, we are trying to reverse this negative trend, for which we conduct face-to-face and virtual tours of dozens of universities, helping students decide on their place of study by consciously choosing both the main and several backup options, depending on the points received, and are guaranteed to receive high-quality education, without making the mistakes that are inevitable when choosing a university and faculty in a fire-fighting manner.

In April 2025, the Frontiers of Science Guild awarded a grant of 10 million rubles to the developers of the service. The POVUZAM project implements career guidance events in the format of offline and online excursions, including using virtual reality (VR), as well as master classes and meetings with teachers.