Commercialization Tendencies in Higher Education: Challenges And Opportunities for Russian Universities

With the collapse of the USSR, Russia was forced to switch from a command economy to a market, which in Russian realities represented a mixed system. Commercialization, understood as an activity aimed at profit making was an indispensable element of such transition. This paper examines how this process manifests itself in such instruments as “state projects” (in particular, “export of education”), digitalization (namely, online education), as well as private investment in higher education. In addition, an attempt was made to identify the reasons that impede the process of commercialization. They include excessive bureaucratization and insufficient state trust in universities, both public and private, which limits the commercial potential of educational institutions that are unable to act as modern corporations; as well as underfunding of higher education by the state, which poses a risk to the development of the system as a whole. In order to solve the existing problems and implement tools aimed at creating profit more successfully, we recommend a clearer goal-setting on the part of the state, which implies justification of these goals based on a detailed analysis of the problem and offering representative comparisons; as well as the study of foreign experience.