Transformation of Higher Education Institutional Landscape in Post-Soviet Countries: From Soviet Model to Where?

Abstract

This chapter introduces the project that aimed at mapping the institutional landscape changes in higher education in 15 post-Soviet countries. The project takes the Soviet legacy as a point of departure and describes and analyses the important developments that took place with the fall of the Soviet system and the impacts these developments had on the landscape. Key developments pertain to, for example, the change from a state-dominated ideology to a steering philosophy with many market elements, finding a new balance between supply and demand, international developments and demographic developments. The landscapes have changed significantly with the emergence of non-state providers, a reconfiguration of “traditional” institutions (universities, academies, institutes) and also a growth in the public sectors of higher education.