For whom and why are leading universities in Russia accessible?

The article is devoted to the assessment of accessibility of education in leading universities of Russia for residents of different regions of the country. The purpose of this publication is to describe the methodology for assessing the accessibility of education in leading universities of the country for potential applicants residing in certain subjects of the Russian Federation, and the results of its testing. The article provides an analysis of the level of territorial, economic, educational, and organizational components of accessibility of education in leading universities of Russia for bachelor’s and specialist programs in full-time form in relation to all regions of the country, as well as an integral indicator of accessibility of leading universities for applicants from each subject of the Russian Federation. The study is based on data from the summary forms of VPO-1 of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia on admission to higher education programs in the regional context, information from the Federal State Statistics Service of Russia and the Unified Interdepartmental Information Reference System, as well as information from the official websites of leading universities in the country on the cost of education and the results of admission campaigns for the 2023/24 academic year. The results of the assessment made it possible to identify a group of regions characterized by a relatively low level of accessibility of education in leading universities of Russia for their residents, as well as to determine which components of accessibility are responsible for this. The conclusions obtained can serve as a basis for relevant management decisions of federal and regional bodies of state administration, as well as the leadership of leading classical, federal, and national research universities in the country to increase the level of accessibility of education in these universities.