Higher School of Economics, established in 1992, was ranked first on the Forbes list. Since its foundation, many highly qualified professionals have graduated from the university. Nowadays, these people occupy senior positions in Russia’s major companies such as Gazprom Neft, Gazprombank, Sheremetyevo International Airport, Rostec, Sberbank, Otkritie FC Bank, Yandex, S7 Group, etc. Meanwhile, the so-called business incubator of the university where residents are taught to start their own business from scratch takes first place in the UBI Global World Rankings of Business Incubators and Accelerators.

Higher School of Economics is followed by the Lomonosov Moscow State University, one of the oldest universities in the country. This educational institution was established back in 1755 by Elizabeth Petrovna, the Empress of Russia and the daughter of Peter the Great. The university has very strict entrance requirements and gives its graduates great career opportunities. Interestingly, there is only one way to become the university’s rector: the candidate should be approved and appointed by the Russian President. In 2020, Moscow State University was ranked 84th in the QS World University Rankings, having improved its last year results.

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology takes third place on the list of top Russian universities. Known informally as PhysTech, the institute provides tremendous career opportunities. No wonder, its alumni are the richest people in the country, including ten businesspeople from the Forbes list. The quality of education standards set by the founding fathers of the institution, including such Nobel laureates as Pyotr Kapitsa, Nikolai Semyonov, and Lev Landau, remain high up to this day.

The Ural Federal University is the fourth leading educational institution in Russia according to Forbes. This autumn, the university will celebrate its 100th anniversary. The university’s total student enrollment is above 35,000. Its teaching personnel exceeds 4,500. Among them, there are 599 doctors of sciences and almost 2,000 candidates of sciences. Students accepted to the university based on the results of the all-Russian Olympiads of schoolchildren enjoy special privileges: they are awarded a ₽40,000 scholarship (around $550).

National Research Nuclear University MEPhI takes fifth place on the list. Initially, the university was created as a base for training engineers and developers of military equipment and weapons. Later, the educational institution started training personnel for the nuclear industry. There are many outstanding scientists among MEPhI graduates, including Nobel laureates and the creator of the first Soviet hydrogen bomb, nuclear physicist Andrey Sakharov. The university’s teaching staff is one of the most prominent in Russia, 74% of them have an academic degree and 24% are doctors of science.

The Bauman Moscow State Technical University is the sixth top Russian university. This educational establishment is well-known not only in Russia but also outside the country. The contribution to science made by the university graduates can hardly be overestimated. Thanks to their efforts, the world knows what a helicopter, a wind tunnel, a diesel locomotive, as well as defense and space technology systems are. The university’s business incubator has helped to create more than 600 companies. Their total annual turnover is approximately 250 million rubles.

Tomsk Polytechnic University is ranked seventh on the Forbes list. Its education standards and international activity are highly praised. Three years ago, the university joined the Education Export Project organized by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. Under the scope of the program, the university tries to make Russian education more prestigious and competitive on the international stage. This year, Andrei Yakovlev, the former innovation director at Gazprom Neft, has taken over as acting rector of the university.

Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics University, or ITMO University, in Saint Petersburg is the eighth leading educational institution in Russia. The university trains first-class specialists in the field of information technology, robotics, biotechnology, etc. Oftentimes, its students and alumni appear among winners of both Russian and international programming competitions. In 2017, the university took first place in the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest for the seventh time. The achievements of ITMO University were recognized on the highest level. Thus, Russia's Ministry of Defense signed a contract with ITMO University to develop software for unmanned airplanes and robotics.

The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation takes the ninth place in this rating. RANEPA trains personnel for state and municipal institutions. Above 400 chief executives receive education in the academy under the presidential retraining and professional development program on a yearly basis. Although the university was founded only in 2010, its popularity among applicants is growing steadily.

New Economic School (NES) closes the ranking of the top ten Russian universities. NES has been the first educational institution to hire foreign professors. Today, about 90% of university teachers have PhDs. NES alumni show spectacular results: about 80% of graduates continue their careers in business, 16% study science, and 4% serve in Russian government authorities. For four years in a row, the school has been among the top three universities for economics and econometrics based on the QS World University Rankings.