The Analysis of the Interregional Accessibility of Higher Education in Russia

The unified system of student admission (Unified State Examination) was introduced in 2002 in order to standardize the process of applying to universities and to improve access to higher education. However, accessibility to higher education is not equally distributed among various urban and rural areas and this study has a crucial role in assessing the extent of different barriers to or restrictions on the accessibility of higher education in Russia in the regional context as neglecting this problem could increase inequality. Using data derived from the longitudinal study ‘Trajectories in Education and Careers’ the cohorts of students who may face different levels of accessibility to higher education (students from Moscow and from different settlements) were identified and a comparative analysis of their educational paths in the context of entering university was provided. A formal model, assessing the influence of different barriers on the accessibility to higher education, was constructed and tested in the current study. According to the analytical framework of the study, restrictions can appear through different channels: social, cultural, and economic forces have major effects on how individuals gain access to higher education within regional context. These factors can influence both indirectly (through the Unified State Examination (USE) results) and directly. Regional characteristics can increase the influence of various factors restricting the accessibility to higher education because of high regional variation in socio-economic development. Moreover, different levels of the markets for higher education development may also compound unequal access to higher education because of the limited universities choice. Empirical test of the model has shown that Moscow residents will enter universities with the highest likelihood, as these people face the lowest number of restrictions while entering universities. In addition, Moscow residents have major benefits because of the well-developed market for higher education: people have an opportunity to study in the same region they live, and they also have significant opportunities for extra preparation. Regional school graduates face problems arising from the need to move to a different region and a less developed market for higher education, the likelihood of being entered to a university in this case is restricted by the bigger number of barriers. Rural residents face major challenges due to the least developed market for higher education and the probability of being entered to a university is restricted with the biggest number of various restrictions. The results of the study show that there is a problem of the limited access to higher education for the residents of various small settlements.