Tuition Policy Issues in Russian Higher Education.

have become part of the policy agenda. As early as 1992, the Law on Education introduced the concept of cost sharing in higher education, complemented by a loan plan, similar to US practice. Since that time, however, the issues of tuition and loan schemes have alternately moved to the front of policy discussions, and retreated back. The present article examines recent developments with regard to tuition policy in Russia, in the global context. The ‘cornerstones’ of tuition policy issues in Russian public higher education are discussed. It is argued that the pressures for tuition charge can only be understood in the policy context of the recent changes in Russian higher education. The article examines the evolution of the concept of tuition-charged higher education in Russia: from a quasi-tuition model in the form of contract training, to self-financed students in public institutions and full-fee private education. The article discusses the pros and cons of the student stipend system, inherited from the past in the form of a merit-based and equal opportunity targeted model, and examines the deterioration of the functions of this form of student financial assistance. The article examines patterns of differentiation in tuition costs in higher education. The recent proposal for tuition-grant bearing students, a mechanism for the indirect allocation of public funds, is considered. To charge or not to charge tuition? o charge or not to charge tuition? o charge or not to charge tuition? o charge or not to charge tuition? o charge or not to charge tuition?