The key facts
- College admissions grew from 900,000 to 1.4 million people
- Competition grew from one application per place to three
- For the 2026/27 academic year, about 880,000 state-funded places are provided — 30,000 more than a year earlier
College admissions grew one and a half times
Admissions to Russian colleges have grown from 900,000 to 1.4 million people. Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov gave these figures at a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and members of the government, reports Life.ru. According to the minister, about five years ago there was on average one application per place, now there are three.
Applications and state-funded places
During the 2026 admissions campaign, colleges and technical schools received 4.2 million applications, of which 1.4 million were for programs of the federal project 'Professionalitet'. For the 2026/27 academic year, colleges and technical schools have about 880,000 state-funded places — 30,000 more than a year earlier. Thus, the growth in the number of applications outpaces the expansion of state-funded enrollment, which explains the increased competition the minister spoke about.
Context: Unified State Exam thresholds are not changing
For comparison: at universities under the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the minimum Unified State Exam thresholds for the 2027/28 academic year will remain the same — a minimum of 40 points is required in Russian and specialized mathematics, 41 in physics, 45 in social studies, 40 in history, 46 in computer science, 40 in foreign languages and literature, and the same in biology, geography and chemistry. The highest threshold among the listed subjects is in computer science.
