Pricing Factors in Russian Public Universities: An Empirical Assessment of Changes and New Regulatory Challenges

Abstract

The paper analyzes changes in pricing factors of Russian public universities in the context of strengthening state regulation of fee-paying admission. The study is relevant due to the growing role of the fee-paying segment in student admission and the shift from price-based regulation to limits on the number of fee-paying positions. The aim is to identify changes in the factors shaping tuition fees by comparing data for 2018 and 2024. The empirical basis consists of data from the HSE University Monitoring of Admission Quality and the Monitoring of the Performance of Higher Education Institutions conducted by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. The sample includes 11,210 observations across 74 aggregated groups of bachelor’s and specialist degree programs offered by 391 main campuses of public universities. The study applies a log-linear regression model estimated separately for five aggregated groups of fields of study. The results show that in 2024 tuition fees continued to depend on regional household income, public funding, the share of income from budgetary sources, admission quality, and selected characteristics of the educational process. Compared with 2018, the role of local market monopolization declined: the Herfindahl–Hirschman index lost its universal significance and retained an effect only in specific subject segments. The paper concludes that the new regulation of fee-paying admission should account for the heterogeneity of pricing factors across regions, universities, and fields of study. Further research should examine branch campuses, private universities, and the effects of new restrictions on fee-paying admission.