Rosobrnadzor says half of Russian universities do not meet their status, and in coming years higher education will face a major overhaul. By 2012, the number of universities and research institutions may be sharply reduced, and only 50 of 400 will keep university status. New accreditation requirements will strictly weed out institutions by program quality, research activity, and facilities. Some universities may be merged into holdings, while others will lose status or be downgraded to technical schools.

According to Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science, half of Russian higher education institutions do not meet their status. In this regard, over the next five years the status of universities will be reviewed. By 2012, it is planned to reduce the number of scientific institutions in Russia to 20% and the number of universities by one third.
Only fifty of the four hundred universities currently in operation will retain the title of university.
The reform has long been under development by the Ministry of Education and Science, but in the conditions of the financial crisis it may take on a more radical character, under which only one third of all existing scientific and educational institutions will remain.
At present, the Ministry of Education and Science is preparing new accreditation requirements, which will be presented at the end of 2009. They will make it possible to carry out a strict screening based on formal criteria (program content, results of research activity, material resources).
According to the reform strategy, by 2012 the Ministry of Education and Science plans to cut about 500 universities and branches (today there are 3,700 of them), and another 1,000 universities may fail to pass the review for compliance with their status.
It is assumed that some universities will be absorbed by stronger educational institutions (the creation of so-called university holdings with regional divisions, a common administration, and a mobile teaching staff), while others will lose university status and either switch to teaching bachelor’s degree programs (with reduced state funding) or be downgraded to technical schools.