PROBLEMS AND PRIORITIES OF RUSSIAN HIGHER EDUCATION

A wide‐ranging discussion of the problems facing Russian higher education in the period of transition is introduced. Although enrollment and employment levels in higher education continue to be high and have not suffered the sorts of cuts as in the other sectors of the Russian economy, much must be done to increase the efficiency of the system. For the author, the key to increased modernization and efficiency is increased reliance on the information technologies in all areas of teaching, learning, and research. She cites the case of World University in California that is completely an on line operation even while arguing that certain elements of traditional higher education should be retained in the Russian Federation. She is persuaded that both humanistic and scientific subjects and programmes can benefit from informatization. The result will be a world‐class higher education system for Russia.