Support The Moscow Times!

Education Minister Wants More Foreign Students

Mongolian students at the People's Friendship University open day. People's Friendship University of Russia

Education Minister Dmitry Livanov implored the country's schools Tuesday to work on attracting more international students after China soundly beat Russia in an international ranking of universities.

Two Chinese universities — Tsinghua and Peking — took the top slots over Russia's third-placed Moscow State University in a QS University Rankings category for BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

Livanov said the country is in ninth place globally in terms of the number of its own students studying abroad. He said about 100,000 foreign students are currently studying in Russia.

"We set before our leading universities the task of substantially increasing [their] attractiveness to students from other countries," Livanov said at a press conference.

This year was the first time that the annual QS World University Rankings, one of the most widely observed international higher-education ratings, included a separate ranking for the BRICS countries.

China, already a well-established education powerhouse, whipped every other country in the BRICS category, with its universities occupying seven of the top 10 slots and 40 of the top 100.

Nineteen Russian universities made the BRICS ranking's top 100 list, though Moscow State University was the only one to finish in the top 10.

Only 16 universities in India, China's economic rival, made the top 100, along with 17 schools in Brazil and eight universities in South Africa.

… we have a small favor to ask.

As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just 2. It's quick to set up, and you can be confident that you're making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.

Continue

Read more