Education of foreign students in Russia: political, economic, social factors

The article presents the results of the analysis of the factors of attractiveness of Russian higher education for foreign students. Analysis of statistics, international ratings of countries and educational institutions showed that the factors of attractiveness could be divided into political, economic, social ones. Political factors are based on the concept of soft power, geopolitical interests of Russia and traditions of the export of education in the USSR. The economic factor is based on a relatively low price of education, budget subsidies, an acceptable price/quality ratio. The social factor of the attractiveness of higher education lies in relatively more favorable conditions for living and studying in Russia as compared with conditions in the countries-importers of Russian education. An independent factor is the position of the university in the world ranking and the specialization of the university.