St Petersburg University holds open competitions for employer-sponsored education with the Republic of Karelia and the Leningrad Region

The competition is an open and transparent procedure to select applicants and is carried out according to clear rules.

In 2022, more than 100 applicants took part in the competition, and three applicants were enrolled for sponsored education who were the winners of the competition.

An open competition among applicants of St Petersburg University for signing agreements on sponsored education together with state customers from the Republic of Karelia was first held last year. This year, a similar agreement was signed with the Leningrad Region.

In 2023, the competition included two constituent entities of the Russian Federation. Among them are: the Republic of Karelia and the Leningrad Region. The number of participants increased to 500, with 13 winners of the competitions being enrolled at the University.

The number of customers of sponsored education, i.e. companies that the University prepares students for under the sponsored education scheme, amounted to 10. Among them are: six organisations from the Republic of Karelia and four organisations from the Leningrad Region. The number of areas of study where the agreements have been signed is 12.

The winners of the competitions demonstrated a very high level of knowledge that was confirmed by the results of the Unified State Exams. In the area of study "Law", the total number of the points for the Unified State Exams and the individual achievements of the winners of the competition was 286 points.

Among the winners of the competitions are students from the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Republic of Crimea, Altai Krai, Krasnodar Krai, Primorsky Krai, Irkutsk, the Leningrad Region, the Samara Region, St Petersburg, the Saratov Region, the Ulyanovsk Region, and the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug.

This direction of the University activities was initiated by Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of St Petersburg University, and supported by the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

During the meeting of the Presidium of the Council of Legislators of the Russian Federation under the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Nikolay Kropachev said that sponsored education is one of the key tools for the development of the regional economy of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The most important task is to select applicants who are best prepared for pursuing higher education programmes, which for the bachelor’s and specialist’s programmes is confirmed by an objective indicator, i.e. the results of the Unified State Exams, said Nikolay Kropachev. The University seeks to strengthen cooperation with the state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in order to hold competitions among the University applicants to sign agreements on sponsored education with regional organisations.

This year, letters with a proposal for cooperation in open competitions for sponsored education were sent by the Rector to all constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

On 1 May 2024, amendments to Federal Law № 273 FZ "On education in the Russian Federation" dated 29 December 2012 will come into force. These amendments provide for new rules for sponsored education.

The draft law on amendments to the law on education was prepared with the active participation of St Petersburg University. The new legal regulation will allow talented applicants from all over the country to be selected in fair competition for sponsored education. Upon completion of the academic programmes, they will contribute to the development of the regional economy of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and the national economy of Russia.

‘Undoubtedly, we needed a federal platform that would provide information about customers’ proposals for signing agreements for sponsored education. In this regard, the digital platform "Rabota v Rossii" plays a crucial role,’ said Nikolay Kropachev. ‘The same can be said about the Gosuslugi portal as it enables applicants to submit applications for signing agreements on sponsored education. I am very pleased that our joint efforts have been crowned with success and the federal law has been published. We have always supported this initiative.’

St Petersburg University will continue to work with the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in order to provide regional economies with high-calibre staff.