Russian universities launched an experiment to abandon the bachelor’s degree

The pilot project to move from the bachelor’s degree system to the specialist’s degree (master’s and postgraduate studies, moreover, remain in the system as the second and third levels of education) is designed for 2023-2026. Participating in it are Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University, Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University), National Research Technological University MISiS, Moscow Pedagogical State University, St. Petersburg Mining University, National Research Tomsk State University.

All this time, while the experiment is going on, nothing will change in other universities or at school in terms of passing the exam, the head of the Ministry of Education and Science Valery Falkov assured the public. “The pilot project will enable universities to work with their programs and consider the terms of study, adjusting them depending on the needs of the employer,” the minister explained the essence of the experiment.

Of course, such global changes in higher education are discussed at universities by everyone, “from young to old”, from rectors to first-year students. For example, Igor Remorenko, rector of the Moscow State Pedagogical University (participates in the “pilot”) emphasizes that “there are always two results in education – an academic degree and qualifications.”

It is this first result that will be comprehensively reviewed, starting from the time of study and to the terminology, “because today even the very concept of “basic higher education” is not in our legislation.” And in order to solve this problem, it is necessary to “shovel” almost everything in three years: the system of educational standards, titles, qualifications, academic degrees, etc. It is interesting that “bachelor” in one of the English versions means “bachelor”. “Well, this name didn’t stick with us,” jokes the rector of the Moscow State Pedagogical University.

Speaking about the reform of higher education, engineering is most often immediately recalled. No wonder 4 out of 6 “pilot” universities are technical.

“In the aerospace industry, we need to ensure not only national sovereignty, but also global leadership,” MAI Rector Mikhail Pogosyan sets global goals. In engineering, there are always very long preparation and implementation cycles; they need “great practical skills” to work in production. An increase in the basic training period will allow future developers, designers and technologists to devote more hours to practice. And there will probably be more target recipients directly from the customer (although there are as many as 20% of them in the MAI).

In some science-intensive disciplines, the term of a specialist can even be longer than 5.5 years (medical universities are often mentioned in the same connection). But on the other hand, the graduate will fully meet the demands of the market, and, therefore, quickly and profitably find a job. And the bachelor’s degree within the walls of the Moscow Aviation Institute will still remain – for foreign students who are “used to the bachelor’s degree.” Experts unanimously call physics the most necessary in engineering universities and the subject in need of improvement at the level of secondary education.

It is a completely different matter in the IT industry – there are talks that when leaving the bachelor’s degree, the time for basic training should not increase, but even be reduced by a year. Three years of theory, the rest is practice, preferably already in production, with the study and development of new software.

– And it’s very right, in IT people study all their lives, – says programmer Ivan Berezin. – And new developments appear at the speed of sound. Therefore, in our industry, staying too long in the audience is only harmful, although the base is needed, of course. But a programmer, as a rule, needs a quick result “right now”. And nowhere are practical skills taken as quickly as in production, when you look, you absorb everything.

As a specialist with 20 years of experience in financial bases in trade and large-scale production, looking at graduates, in general, after a year of “academic studies”, I would immediately drive everyone to practice.

“It really depends on the university, but often “bachelor” means a dropout,” says Nikolay, Candidate of Economic Sciences, member of the department and teacher of the university. – And the master is a retraining, a “great scientist”, as he himself believes. And the graduate student is generally unclear who and for what.

Of course, this needs to be changed. We recently had a meeting on reform. The proposals from the ministry sound sensible: a basic part for a specialty, a theory, plus an internship “on the ground”. Masters for those who want to get an advanced level or go to a leadership position in their field. Postgraduate study as an initial academic training, if a person wants a degree and is already engaged in research in the profession. Push science forward, so to speak. Everything is logical and connected, we, in my opinion, lacked this.

Students and applicants are now somewhat confused, especially if their university has already entered the experiment. It is not entirely clear how much they will study and what diploma they will receive.

But both at the level of ministries and departments, and at the university level, they assure that the experiment is just beginning. Yes, in the future, the academic degree and the number of years of study will be changed in the university diploma. But everyone who is already studying or will enter this year will receive a diploma “in the old way”, if they wish. That is, exactly the one they were striving for in the admissions campaign.

In six universities participating in the experiment on leaving the “lap dog”, they will start teaching according to new programs after their approval – after June 30, 2023. It is officially stated that the students of the universities of the pilot program will be subject to “the rights, social guarantees, duties and responsibilities provided for students mastering bachelor’s, specialist’s, master’s, and postgraduate programs.”