What do Russian students expect from education abroad?

Empirical analysis of students’ expectations is an important instrument which helps to build an efficient recruitment campaign. However, researches and surveys focused on Russian students aiming to study abroad are scarce and usually do not provide all necessary information.

This material provides the results of the survey conducted in 2015-2016 about the expectations of Russian and CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) students from education abroad. More than 1200 respondents participated in the survey (65% from Russia, 13% from Kazakhstan). The results of this survey would help for admission officers to understand the preferences or Russian students and to fix their recruitment strategy if needed.

Most of those who demonstrated an interest in education abroad are between 18 and 21 (51%) or 22 and 24 (27%) years old. The vast majority of them are looking for master or PhD programs abroad. It should be noted that 83% of them are women – while this huge gender bias may be partly explained by the popularity of thematic websites among women, we have to admit that the interest for education abroad differs significantly among men and women. This fact should be used while creating recruitment campaigns in Russia and other CIS countries.

The most popular country for Russian students are USA (54,7% or respondents want to study there), UK (51,5%) and Germany (40,3%). The most popular study fields are social sciences (18%), economics (12,7%) and marketing (11%). Popularity of the USA and the UK is explained by the dominance of these countries in international rankings, while German education has particularly good reputation in Russia. It is also important to notice that German is the second popular foreign language in Russia. However, the most important reason behind the choice of Germany is its free education.

While explaining why do they want to study abroad, student claim that they want “to discover a world” (17,3%) and “acquire new knowledge” (16,4%). While choosing a country, students pay attention to the quality of education (21%), its culture and language (15,3%) and life costs (14%). To find some information about foreign universities, students uses search engines (28%) and social networks (22,5%), as well as websites about education abroad (20%).

The most popular social networks are VK.com (94%), Facebook (62%) and Instagram (52%). However, it should be noted that, while VK.com is the most popular social network among Russian and CIS students, the popularity of Facebook increases among older students. It may be important for those universities who try to attract students for Master's of MBA programs.

Those students who are ready to pay more than $20,000 for education abroad typically hope that education would help them to make a career, while “new knowledge” and other factor are less important comparing with other potential students. These people are also more likely to use Facebook. It is especially important because most of potential students are not ready to pay for education abroad.