Siberian Federal University

Siberian Federal University triggered an unprecedented experiment by charging its students with differential fee since January 2010. This approach has already been taken into consideration by Western universities. Top students pay tuition two or three times less than others in Harvard University, Oxford University and the University of Massachusetts.

SibFU Law Institute was the first one which applied differential fee. At the present time Bachelors can get «Law» speciality paying approximately 48000 rubles per term whereas «Law» speciality for specialists costs 60000 rubles per term respectively. However, straight-A law students will be able to pay just 24000 rubles per term in accordance with the results of end-of-semester exams next year. Consequently, higher education will be more available for them.

Irina V. Shishko, Head of the SibFU Law Institute said: «Although lawyers are said to overfill the labour market, Chamber of Commerce and Industry expects heavy demand for lawyers because of the economic crisis. Personnel Managers point out that employers are primarily interested in the place of study of their would-be employees. At the present time SibFU Law Institute is the basic higher education institution of Siberian Federal District providing law degree. Alumni of the Law Institute easily find rewarding jobs in the field of law. In 2009 there are 110 state-subsidized places in the Institute. But we also decided to support study-for-fee students at the economic crisis conditions».

Tuition fee will be imputed in accordance with term results:

SibFU Law Institute has been applying higher education rating system for two years so law students’ progress is assessed with 100-point quality scale.