Increasing the international attractiveness of the Russian universities in conditions of epidemiological threats 

Vladimir V. Bondarenko, Doctor of economic sciences, professor, professor of the sub-department of management, informatics and humanities, director, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation (Penza branch) (33 B Kalinina street, Penza, Russia), E-mail: vvbondarenko@fa.ru
Viktor M. Volodin, Doctor of economic sciences, professor, professor of the sub-department of management and economic security, director of the Institute of Economics and Management, Penza State University (40 Krasnaya street, Penza, Russia), E-mail: 7volodin7@mail.ru
Olga N. Leskina, Candidate of economic sciences, associate professor, associate professor of the sub-department of economic and finances, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation (Penza branch) (33 B Kalinina street, Penza, Russia), E-mail: ONLeskina@fa.ru
Vera A. Yudina, Candidate of economic sciences, associate professor, head of the sub-department of management, informatics and humanities, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation (Penza branch) (33 B Kalinina street, Penza, Russia), E-mail: vayudina@fa.ru 

378.095 

10.21685/2072-3016-2021-4-13 

Background. The study is devoted to identifying ways to attract foreign students to the Russian universities in the context of pandemic СОVID-19. The subject of the research is higher educational institutions of Russia that accept foreign students. The study describes the current situation in the field of education, identifies the main problems, and suggests ways to solve them. In addition, the main statistics related to foreign students are presented, tasks that need to be solved to improve the competitiveness of educational institutions are set, and a possible forecast for the development of Universities in the context of a pandemic is given. Materials and methods. To study the problem, we used the method of expert analysis of indicators of competitiveness of higher education institutions, the fore-cast method, which identified the main ways to improve the activities of educational institutions to attract foreign students. Results. The main results of the study are the developed methods of attracting and retaining foreign students in the Russian higher education institutions in the face of epidemiological threats, as well as the identified tasks that need to be solved in order to achieve the desired research result. Conclusions. The results of the study can be used by the Russian universities to increase their competitiveness among foreign students. 

the Russian higher education institutions, University competitiveness, epidemiological threats, distance learning 

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