Falkov plans more state-funded places in high-demand university courses

Russia’s education ministry plans to increase state-funded places at leading universities in high-demand subjects, particularly information technology. Minister Valery Falkov announced the plan in the Federation Council on October 14.

He said the ministry would take account of the results of the 2026 admissions campaign when allocating additional places. His statement did not specify how many would be added or name the universities receiving them.

Federation Council television channel Vmeste-RF also reported the announcement. It quoted Falkov’s comparison of the overall allocation: 541,000 state-funded places in 2020 and 620,000 in 2026.

The minister separately recalled that the number of university competitions approved for the following year had been reduced from 83 to 60. That change concerns the competition list, rather than the number of university places.