Russian Higher Education Reforms and the Bologna Process

The article describes transformations of the Russian education system during the past decades and discusses the role of the Bologna process, and particularly the introduction of a new degree system, in the course of the higher education reforms. Two new types of the Russian universities introduced – federal universities and national research universities – should become engines in the realization of the tasks under reform. The role of universities and their development programmes increases, a new funding model should give more autonomy to the HEIs and secure sustainability in the implementation of their development strategies. The Bologna process has definitely served as a catalyst in the course of the modernization of the Russian education sector and everybody would benefit if it were more coordinated with general reforms.