Education on Paid Basis in Russia: Historical Experience and Current Status

Abstract

The article makes an attempt to analyze the main directions and features of non-governmental (paid) education in pre-revolutionary Russia and its analogue which has developed in todays environment. The system of paid education in Russia starts its active development at the turn of the 20th century. At the time, in terms of the ongoing modernization there was a substantial demand for professionals in commerce and other sectors of economy. The most significant feature of this system of education was its practical focus. The key intention of private commercial educational institutions was to train specialists able to solve economic problems of the state and society. That was the reason why the government set up the institutional framework for functioning of private education, developed and approved the legal rules and conditions of establishing private educational institutions. The intention of the civil society to intercept the initiative from the government in order to increase the quality of human capital and acquire by the society a greater civil and, as a result, political freedom for the society failed to succeed completely. The system of private paid education was totally liquidated after 1917 and replaced by state educational institutions. The new opportunities opened for the non-governmental system of education reviving in modern Russia seemed to create all conditions for productive comprehension of the experience of the turn of the 20th century. However, this has not happened so far. Moreover, present-day non-governmental universities have failed to form a distinct system and, in fact, have found themselves in a crisis. In this regard, comprehension and creative development of the experience of establishing paid education in pre-revolutionary Russia can be topical in the current context, when the economic situation once again demands the increase of the of human capital quality.