Education 2002: The View from within

Russia has been in a constant state of reforms since 1985. The purpose of the reforms was supposed to be that of improving the production and non-production spheres of society. In actuality, things are a bit different. The losses in the economy in the years of the reforms have turned out to be greater than during the Great Patriotic War. At that time the volume of industrial production fell by 21 percent, while agricultural production fell by 40 percent. The twofold drop in production in Russia in 1991 to 1998 can be compared to the Great Depression in the United States in 1929 to 1932, and in some sectors it approaches the losses inflicted by the Civil War in 1918-21. At first glance, the situation in education appears to be the direct opposite. The number of college students in higher educational institutions in Russia rose from 2.8 million in 1990 to 5.4 million at present. But of that number only 51.3% are enrolled on a budget-funded basis. In this article, the author discusses the issues relating to regulation of higher education in Russia and examines whether it is possible to increase the number of college students enrolled on a budget-funded basis, given the drastic slump in production in the country's economy. Among the issues, the author stresses the mismatch between the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and the laws on education and discusses how the year 2002 was marked by a new offensive on the part of the government of the Russian Federation against higher educational institutions.