Problems of improving higher professional education quality in contemporary Russia: history and their solutions

The article analyses the current problems of improving higher professional education quality in contemporary Russia covering a wide range of historical, financial, economic, social, legal, spiritual, moral and instrumental issues. Commercialization of state universities’ activities has developed at accelerated pace over all the years of the existence of contemporary Russia and continues to this day. It is the main reason for quality decline of higher professional education in the Russian Federation. The author does not approve of copying the Western education norms in Russia and suggests basing it, first of all, on own models and domestic traditions of education development and modernization in further reform of domestic education system. The paper pays special attention to the consideration of topical issues on the wide use of modern types of information and digital technologies in the field of education including higher professional education (computer, digital, Internet, mobile communications, etc.), as the most important components of improving its quality. At the same time, the author acknowledges and proves that due to the excessive and inefficient use of these technologies in the educational process of individual universities in the country, they do not always lead to positive results in improving higher professional education quality. The author considers it necessary to develop new, additional legal bases for the legislative regulation of all these issues in complex. In the final part of the article, the research proposes the main ways of solving problems associated with improving higher professional education quality in Russia which can later become an integral part of the approved new National Doctrine for Education Development in the Russian Federation for the long term.