Sustaining Student Enrolment: Impact of Demand Trends for Higher Education in Russia

Abstract

The higher education system, a field of activity that defines the requirements for professional qualifications, that can impact structural changes in employment and foster dynamic economic development and increased competition, was one of the first sectors to be exposed to market failure. Issues of better access to higher education in various countries increasingly fit specific consistent patterns as desired results are achieved: from positive effects in the initial stages to problems that prevent growth in the number of students in the state-subsidized segment at subsequent stages, including the rigid regulation by the state. To confirm similar processes against the background of the demographic problems in Russia affecting the number of students, an empirical analysis was performed to reveal the factors influencing a surge in demand on the basis of an assessment of the correlation of a higher education resource base, production, and the industrial capacity of a region's development. This study shows successive stages of change in the public demand for higher education and confirms the justified consequences of the transition to decisive actions pertaining to the optimization of educational, material, technical, financial, and intellectual resources.