Russian students are increasingly choosing to pursue university degrees abroad. According to the Institute of International Education Open Doors Report, approximately 5,412 Russian students studied in the United States in 2017.
Over a five-year period from 2012 to 2017, there has been an 18-percent increase in the number of Russian students studying in U.S. schools.
Education in Russia is predominantly state-run and is regulated by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the Ministry of Education (which, until May 2018, were one Ministry). Regional authorities regulate education in their jurisdictions within the prevailing framework of federal laws. Russia’s expenditure on education has grown from 2.7 percent of the GDP in 2005 to 3.8 percent in 2015, but remains below the OECD average of 5.2 percent.