What attracts university applicants to Russia

On August 6, on the RUDN University online platform, experts in education and international cooperation exchanged their experience and discussed the best practices in bringing foreign students to Russian universities. The webinar participants discussed the promotion of Russian educational programs at the national and global levels.

The webinar was started by Larisa Efremova, Vice-Rector for International Affairs, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (RUDN). “Universities should make regular effort to keep the information on the admission campaign relevant and meaningful and allow foreign applicants to assess the quality of education in a Russian university,” she said.

It should be noted that the applicant’s decision to study in Russia is largely influenced by social networks, namely, the universities’ pages on social networks. Liu Xin, CEO of RUDN Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange LTD, spoke about the important role of social networks in attracting Chinese citizens to studying in Russia. “Social media is now the most effective way to communicate with young people in China. However, it is necessary to take into account the fact that many common applications do not work in China. The most effective promotion tools are the mobile apps WeChat and Sina Weibo. The popularity of these applications is illustrated by the fact that more than 500 million people use these social networks in China,” noted Liu Xin.

During the webinar, experts repeatedly said that many foreign students are attracted to Russia by university graduates. For example, today there are more than 12,000 graduates of Soviet and Russian universities in Lebanon. Their success and achievements have become a clear indicator of the competitiveness of Russian higher education.