TOP-100 best Russian universities according to Forbes

This is the list of higher education institutions that was compiled by the famous publication in June 2019: according to the source, the leading positions among Russian universities are MISiS, MGIMO and FizTech.

Let's look at what criteria are taken into account when forming the list of the best educational institutions in the country, and what parameters Forbes magazine used for its assessment.

How and why are ranking lists compiled

The reputation of the institution plays a tangible role in increasing the level of attractiveness not only in the eyes of students, but also in the opinion of employers or investors. The former prefer high-ranking university graduates, and the latter are happy to invest in the development of such educational institutions, since they are recognized as promising. In addition, the high position of the university in the national ranking performs 2 functions at once: firstly, it increases the image of its country, and secondly, it attracts foreign students.

To promote the university at the international level, many countries are implementing special educational programs: in Russia, this is the “Project 5-100”, which was launched in 2012. Its main task is to increase the competitiveness of leading Russian universities among world-class research and educational centers.

University rankings themselves are divided into several types:

• Global
• Regional
• National

The first type deals with the analysis and comparison of educational institutions from different states, the second from a specific region, and the latter forms a list of universities in a particular country. So, the list of the Forbes TOP-100 can be attributed to the latter type.

In addition to different coverage, the rankings of educational institutions differ in methodologies, the number of which can reach several tens: university profile, subject areas or industry, rankings with several approaches - there are many options.

A separate line is the special lists that are created for a specific request - for example, graduate employment ranking or reputation ranking.

Three reasons to pay attention to university rankings

It is believed that the place of the university in the ranking is an important indicator from several points of view at once. Consider the 3 most popular:

1. A university diploma increases the student's chances to interest a good employer

According to recruiting agencies, most companies, when selecting employees, if they don’t look directly at the color of the diploma, then at the prestige and status of the university - definitely yes. This includes not only the position in the lists of the best, but also the positive personal brand of the educational institution.

2. Ranking plays an important role when employers decide to work with universities and find talented candidates.

If a university creates departments and implements internship programs / projects in leading companies in the market, then for students of these universities the chances are significantly increased to get the necessary experience, and in the future to get a job there.

3. Studying at top universities forms a circle of useful acquaintances and connections

Here, networking works at once on several levels: a fellow student and a student teacher. In the first case, classmates can become colleagues or clients, and in the second, a guarantee is formed that industry professionals with rich experience will educate you.

The listed reasons are advisory in nature, since there is also an opinion that none of these factors has a direct impact on quality education and cannot guarantee a student a successful career. In any case, the best way to choose a university is to define clear learning objectives (and, of course, common sense).

What Forbes relied on when creating the list of TOP-100 best Russian universities

Now back to the Forbes ranking and see what criteria were the basis of the analysis to form a list of the best Russian universities.

To begin with, when compiling the first ranking in 2018, the publication set itself the task not only to assess the quality of education in the country, but also to identify which of the universities are becoming a forge of specialists for specialists in the business environment. After all, the latter may appear in the pages of the famous magazine in a few years, at least - become a part of the Russian elite. During the creation of the second TOP-100 ranking in 2019 - they consider its results in the article - the methodology has not changed.

The publication studied the effectiveness of universities according to monitoring provided by the Ministry of Education of Russia - in total, more than 1000 educational institutions of the country entered it. The quality of education, statistics on the employment of graduates, their level of demand in the regions and the number of entrepreneurs were taken into account.

In total, 10 different metric systems were used to analyze Russian universities, and the final results were grouped into three indicators:

• The quality of education (maximum mark 50 points)
• Quality of graduates (maximum mark 30 points)
• The Forbes factor (maximum mark 20 points) is the elitism of the institution and the total percentage of entrepreneurs among graduates.

It is worth noting that the ranking of Russian universities Forbes included only universities that are under the auspices of the Ministry, without taking into account institutions under the control of law enforcement agencies - in this case, there is simply no data on work efficiency.

Overview of hundreds of the best universities in Russia according to Forbes

So, here are the results:

In terms of the quality of education, the first 10 places are occupied by the following Russian universities:

1. St. Petersburg National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics, and Optics (score 32.91)
2. National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (32.86)
3. Russian School of Economics (32.77)
4. National Research Technological University “MISiS” (32.08)
5. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (31.15)
6. National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University (29.66)
7. State Institute of the Russian Language A.S. Pushkin (29.07)
8. National Research University Moscow Institute of Electronic Technology (28.48)
9. Kursk State Medical University of the Ministry of Health of Russia (27.68)
10. National Research Tomsk State University (26.87).

The following criterion is the first 10 universities in demand for graduates:

1. Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation (22.31)
2. Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (21.99)
3. Moscow State Academy of Physical Culture (21.59)
4. Russian State University for the Humanities (20.25)
5. Russian University of Transport (MIIT) (20.23)
6. Russian State Social University (20)
7. St. Petersburg State University of Economics (19.99)
8. Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas (19.93)
9. St. Petersburg State University of Civil Aviation (19.92)
10. G.V. Plekhanov Russian University of Economics (19.9).

And finally, the universities leading in the same Forbes Factor:

1. Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (11.69)
2. All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography named after S. A. Gerasimov (10.73)
3. Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov (8.59)
4. Moscow State Law University named after O. E. Kutafin (8.2)
5. Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (7.54)
6. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (7.49)
7. Gorky Literary Institute (7.22)
8. Russian State University of Physical Culture, Sports, Youth and Tourism (6.35)
9. School-Studio (Institute) named after Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko at the Moscow Art Academic Theater. A.P. Chekhov (6.34)
10. Academy of Russian Ballet named after A. Ya. Vaganova (6.29).

According to the total score, MISiS, MGIMO and FizTech were among the 3 leaders on the Forbes list of “TOP-100 Best Russian Universities”. Why did these educational institutions become the leaders of the honorary ranking?

A brief overview of the TOP-3 universities in Russia according to Forbes

Let's see what helped each of the prize-winning universities that are already famous in Russia and abroad to occupy a leading position in the national ranking from such an authoritative publication as Forbes magazine.

National Research Technological University “MISiS”

• The academic council of the university includes representatives of the scientific community of Cambridge, Stanford and other flagship universities abroad.
• Initially, the university was the place where specialists in metallurgy came from, but over time, he had to change his profile somewhat. Today, the traditional areas of metallurgy remain leading here, but nanotechnology, bioengineering and the full range of IT are also widely developed.

Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia (MGIMO)

• This is the only university in the world where 54 (!) Foreign languages are taught in full format
• The university was prestigious even in Soviet times - it managed to maintain such a reputation today: today the children of Russian officials and businessmen tend to get here, they even give it preference to bypass foreign higher schools
• MGIMO is a university not only for residents of Moscow, but also for other regions of Russia (this is about 50% of students)
• Last year, the university celebrated its 75th anniversary.

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (FizTech)

Another famous Moscow technical university, students from all over the Soviet Union and the CIS countries dreamed of getting into. And that's why:

• Among the founders of the institute are such Nobel laureates as Pyotr Kapitsa, Nikolai Semenov and Lev Landau
• The university provides fundamental technical education, so today students want to get here not only from all over Russia, but also from foreign countries
• A diploma of such a university gives a young specialist huge advantages at the start of a career.

Of course, this is not a complete list of awards and merits for each of the universities - every resident of the country has heard all these names, the national love for these universities is undeniable. And now, thanks to the Forbes ranking, Russian universities will be on a par with the best higher schools around the world.