More than 41 SVO participants and their children were admitted to universities on preferential terms.
More than 41 SVO participants and their children have been admitted to Russian universities on state-funded places under a special quota. This was announced by Russian Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov, who specified that the preferential quota is already "slightly over 73% filled."
Admissions Statistics and Top Universities
Specifically, the total number of students admitted to state-funded programs to date is 117, with admissions occurring primarily through various preferential quotas. Overall, over 620 state-funded places are available at Russian universities during this admissions campaign.
Moreover, according to Important Stories, over 4,300 SVO participants and their children have already been admitted to 18 of Russia's top universities through quotas. Five percent of them were admitted either without taking any exams at all or with Unified State Exam scores significantly below the required threshold.
Quadrupling and the consequences for high scorers
Consequently, the number of SVO participants and their children occupying state-funded places at higher education institutions has been growing rapidly for the fourth year in a row. For example, in 2022 there were less than 2,000, in 2023 – 9,000, in 2024 – 15,000, and in 2025 – 28,700.
As a result, admission to the country's leading universities on a state-funded basis is becoming inaccessible even for applicants with high scores. In particular, renowned social anthropologist Alexandra Arkhipova shared the story of her relative who applied to HSE:
She scored over 90 points on every exam (92 and 96), 100 points for the creative competition, and won a gold medal. And yet, she was still just a few points short. A letter arrives: "Pay us, dear, a million rubles for tuition at our wonderful university for the first year."