Over the last ten years, the system of higher education has undergone considerable change in the following areas:
Goals - with an orientation towards the needs of the market, society, and individuals;
Structure - decentralization (in contrast to Soviet centralized planning);
Autonomy of higher educational institutions - introduction of private higher education; four- and two-year programs in parallel with the traditional five-year program; elimination of a bias towards engineering specialties;
Financing - diversification of financial sources instead of a reliance solely on state financing;
Content - increasing the humanitarian components in the curriculum, and diversifying programs and courses
Following the provisions of the 1992 Law on Education and responding to the rising demand and the need to generate revenue, the state educational institutions acquired more autonomy, opened new programs and started enrolling commercial students.
At the same time the Russian higher education system remains relatively centralized: the Federal Government provides no less then 50% of all higher education institutional expenditures and keeps all state-owned institutions' funds under strict control through a special system of treasury accounts, it provides accreditation, attestation and licensing of all institutions, private or public, it establishes considerably detailed unified standards of HE programs defining the curricular and content for all disciplines and it keeps monopoly to issue diplomas confirming higher education degree.
The specializations which ar most sort out by students are: avaition, Finance, Communication, electronics & information technology, Marine engineering, Medicine and Biological, Civil & Automobile Engineering, Railways & Power and other specialities.
Russia has four types of institutions:
Universities: responsible for education and research in a variety of disciplines; There are "classical" and "technical" universities with special attention paid respectively to social sciences and humanities or natural fundamental and applied (engineering) sciences. Unofficial ratings also distinguish old "classical" universities and "new" universities, former pedagogical or technical institutions which have acquired their university status quite recently.
Academies: responsible for education and research. They differ from universities only in that they restrict themselves to a single discipline;
Institutes: multi-discipline oriented. They can be independent structural units, or part of a university or academy and usually specialize in one field. However pedagogical institutes are responsible for all spectrum of disciplines taught at schools
Private institutions: present in increasing numbers. They offer degrees in non-engineering fields such as business, culture, sociology and religion.
Degree structure
There is a new degree structure, which follows a three-tier pattern, three levels, and uses U.S./British nomenclature.
Currently there are only two types of diploma (degrees) which are officially recognized as ones of completed higher education - these are diploma of specialist and diploma of a Master level (magistr).
The Bachelor diploma and the certificate of "incomplete higher education" are not regarded as high education degrees. In some cases a bachelor degree suffices to start a career. Anyway bachelors (or undergraduates) are not allowed to take positions were higher education is necessary by labor law or by custom, they can't get the research degree of Candidate of Sciences, male graduates are drafted as soldiers and must serve for two years while specialists and magistrs have half a year shorter conscription period.
It should be noted that Russia has signed Bologna Declaration and by the year 2010 transition to a two- tier degree structure should be completed, the objective is specified as one of the ultimate goals of the country's educational reforms.
Below you can find a more detailed description of program organization:
Level I Programs at this level are organized into two stages:
Stage 1 consists of two years of course work, upon completion of which students are awarded a "certificate of incomplete higher education."
Stage 2 is devoted entirely to one to two years of intensive professional training. Upon completion, students are awarded a diploma of incomplete higher education (o nepolnom visshem obrazovanii).
These are not distinct programs but rather credentials awarded upon partial completion of study leading to a diploma of higher education, such bachelor or specialist. Students with a Level I certificate or diploma have not completed their higher education. However, they can seek employment in jobs that require some higher education, but not a degree.
Level II Bachelor (bakalavr): Awarded upon completion of four-year programs in the humanities, economics and natural sciences, as well as some practical professional training. It represents the completion of "basic academic education."
Level III There are two options after the second level -master and specialist. Both degrees allow access to doctoral study.
Master (magistr): This is an academic degree designed for students who wish to pursue a career in academia and research. It takes 2 years after obtaining the bachelor degree. The field of study must be the same as for the bachelor. (Because most students continue after the bakalavr at the same institution, they may not receive the actual bakalavr diploma).
Specialist: This is a professional training program designed for students who choose to pursue the practical applications of their specialization.

Bakalavr, magistr and specialist diplomas are awarded by the State Attestation Commission.

Foriegn student admission are handled by 3rd party independant contractors.