The Russian government scholarship is a state quota of 30,000 free study places a year: it pays your tuition and a preparatory Russian year, plus a small stipend, but not flights, food or insurance. For 2027/28 you apply on education-in-russia.com by 15 January 2027 (15 December 2026 for CIS countries), pass selection at your Russian House, then get placed in one of up to six universities you ranked.
The Russian government scholarship is a state quota: a set number of budget-funded study places that the Government of the Russian Federation gives to foreign citizens every year. You do not receive a cash grant. Instead, the Russian state pays your tuition, and you study for free at a public university, from a bachelor's degree up to postgraduate (PhD-level) study.
The number of places is set by Government Decree No. 2150 of 18 December 2020: 18,000 in 2021, 23,000 in 2022 and 30,000 a year from 2023 onward. The Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation repeated the 30,000 figure in June 2026. Places are shared out between countries.
Rossotrudnichestvo, the federal agency whose offices abroad are called Russian Houses, does the first selection in your country; where there is no Russian House, the Russian embassy does it.
The quota covers tuition and nothing else of real size: full tuition for the whole programme, a one-year preparatory course of Russian language if you do not speak Russian, a monthly stipend and the right to a dormitory place at the subsidised rate for budget students.
The stipend is small. A letter of the Ministry dated 4 August 2026 sets the minimum state academic stipend at 2,296 RUB a month (≈ $28) for university students from 1 September 2026. Universities can pay more for good grades: Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) publishes 1,700–9,000 RUB (≈ $21–$112) for bachelor's students and 7,500–11,500 RUB (≈ $93–$143) for PhD students.
You pay for everything else yourself. FEFU lists what is not covered: visa and registration fees, air and rail tickets, transfers, medical insurance and medical costs, dormitory fees and meals. At NUST MISIS in Moscow the dormitory fee for state-funded students is 2,500–3,769 RUB a month (≈ $31–$47). In practice your stipend roughly pays for a dorm bed, and food, phone, transport and the compulsory health insurance come out of your family's money.
For the 2027/28 academic year, NUST MISIS states the application deadline as 15 January 2027 for applicants from most countries and 15 December 2026 for applicants from CIS countries. Applications are submitted on the official portal education-in-russia.com (the state information system for foreign applicants).
The pattern of earlier years is steady. For 2026/27, Almazov National Medical Research Centre and the Russian State Hydrometeorological University both published a window from 15 September 2025 to 15 January 2026. Expect the same rhythm: the portal opens in mid-September, the main deadline is mid-January, and first-stage results come in April or May.
One change is coming. In October 2026 Rossotrudnichestvo told the newspaper Vedomosti that from 2027 it will strengthen the "target" part of the quota, giving priority to fields and countries linked to Russia's partnerships, with medicine, engineering and IT named as likely priorities. No final list had been published by 1 November 2026. Separately, Ministry Order No. 728 amending the selection procedure comes into force on 7 November 2026; it defines cases where a medical certificate is not needed.
Selection has two stages: first your country's Russian House or embassy ranks your portfolio, then the Ministry and the universities decide where you study.
You can choose up to six universities and rank them, as NUST MISIS confirms. The Gateway to Russia guide, published by a Russian state media outlet, adds limits: no more than two universities in Moscow, two in St Petersburg and three in one federal district. Put the university you want most in first place, because universities see priority.
Any foreign citizen can apply. A person with dual Russian citizenship qualifies only if they live permanently abroad and have no Russian diploma. For a bachelor's or specialist degree you need a completed secondary school certificate (or a certificate that you are in your final year); for a master's, a bachelor's degree; for postgraduate study, a master's or specialist degree.
The core documents for stage 1 are:
Documents in other languages must be translated into Russian and the translation notarised. Before you travel, your education documents must also be legalised or apostilled in your home country. A Nepali student on the quota describes a chain of three offices: the national exam board, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in that order, with spare photocopies for each office.
For a master's or PhD, the Open Doors Russian Scholarship Project is a second, separate route to the same free place. It is an online competition: a portfolio, then subject tasks, plus supervisor interviews for PhD candidates. Winners then apply for a quota place through their Open Doors account and choose up to six universities, without the country-by-country selection at a Russian House.
The 2026 season (for study from 2027) opened on 20 August 2026. The official booklet published by NUST MISIS gives stage 1 (portfolio) until 13 November 2026, stage 2 (subject tasks) until 21 December 2026, bachelor's and master's winners on 21 December 2026, and PhD winners on 26 February 2027. Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU) gives a portfolio deadline of 1 November 2026, so check your Open Doors account and treat the earlier date as binding.
Age limits apply: 20 to 33 for the master's track, 22 to 35 for the PhD track and 16 to 23 for the bachelor's track, which Open Doors now also runs. The booklet also mentions extra government grant support (travel, insurance, accommodation costs and a grade-linked allowance) for eligible winners who choose Russian-taught programmes. Do not count on it until your university confirms it in writing.
| State quota | Open Doors Olympiad | Paid (contract) study | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Levels | Bachelor's, specialist, master's, postgraduate | Bachelor's, master's, PhD, postdoc | All levels |
| Who selects | Russian House or embassy, then universities | Online competition, then universities | The university |
| Competition | Within your country's share of 30,000 places | Ranking by subject track, no country share | Entrance exams or interview only |
| Tuition | Free, incl. preparatory year | Free (winners get a quota place) | You pay the university's fee |
| Stipend | Yes, from 2,296 RUB a month (≈ $28) | Yes, set by the university | No |
| Flights, insurance, food | Not covered | Not covered (grant support for some 2026 winners) | Not covered |
| Timing | Mid-September to mid-January | Late August to November/December | Usually spring and summer |
| Universities to choose | Up to 6, ranked | Up to 6, ranked | As many as you apply to |
If you miss both scholarship windows, paid study is still open, and the Univenter platform connects applicants directly with universities and checks documents before submission.
She has watched many applicants, a lot of them from Pakistan, lose places for small errors: a name on the form that differs from the passport, or a GPA under the line of a university such as MIPT or HSE. Her advice is to fix your name before data is locked and to rank universities that match your grades.
— Lisa, an international student describing her own scholarship application (video)
Her bachelor's GPA was 2.45 out of 4, yet she won an Open Doors place for a master's in linguistics at HSE in Nizhny Novgorod by scoring well on the proctored online subject test. She applied alone, chose a regional campus because competition was lower, and says a month of food, transport and phone cost her at least 7,000–8,000 RUB (≈ $87–$99) on top of a stipend of about 2,000 RUB (≈ $25).
— Amna, a Pakistani master's student at HSE Nizhny Novgorod who applied in 2021 (video)
After the quota he had to verify and attest his school documents at three offices in Nepal, translate them into Russian and get a lawyer to certify his passport copy. He tried to change university after the preparatory year and found it slow and bureaucratic; his advice is to ask the Russian House for any change before you leave home.
— Sudarshan Thakur, a Nepali student in Russia on the government quota (video)
He applied to Open Doors and to the Chinese Government Scholarship at the same time and says he will pick China if both accept him, because the Chinese award pays a living allowance while Open Doors in his view only removes the tuition fee. He warns that some applicants buy fake experience letters to raise their portfolio score.
— An international applicant who sat both Open Doors and CSC (video)
Where students and official sources differ, the official version wins. Amna gives the Open Doors window as 15 November to 15 December; that was the schedule of her 2021 season, and the 2026 season runs from 20 August to mid-November. Her 2,000 RUB (≈ $25) stipend matches the 2021 to 2022 level; the legal minimum is now 2,296 RUB (≈ $28).
No. It pays tuition, a preparatory language year if needed, and a small stipend, with the right to a subsidised dorm place. Flights, visa fees, health insurance, food and usually the dorm fee are paid by the student.
The legal minimum for university students is 2,296 RUB a month (≈ $28) from 1 September 2026. Universities can pay more for good grades, and postgraduate students receive at least 4,522 RUB (≈ $56) or 10,851 RUB (≈ $135) depending on the field.
Yes. They are separate selections with different calendars, and Open Doors winners still take their place through the quota system. Applying to both gives a master's or PhD candidate two chances in the same cycle.
No. If you do not speak Russian, the quota includes a one-year preparatory course before your degree. If you already have good Russian, you can start your degree in the same year.
No. Places are given by competitive selection run by Russian Houses or embassies and then by universities. Anyone selling a guaranteed place is either taking your money for something free or offering fake documents that can cancel your scholarship.
Last updated: 1 November 2026. Fees and regulations change; check the official sources above before you apply.
The cost of studying in Russia in 2026/27 is about 270,000 to 1,200,000 RUB a year in tuition, plus 15,000 to 30,000 RUB a month to live, depending on the city. A realistic first year at a regional medical university costs about 580,000 RUB, and in Moscow about 1.6 million RUB.
Kursk State Medical University (KSMU) is a state medical university in Kursk, Russia, that has taught General Medicine (MBBS) to international students in English since 1994 through its International Medical Institute. The course lasts 6 years; fees are set in roubles each year, so get the 2026/27 price list in writing and read the current travel advice for Kursk Oblast before you apply.
Kazan State Medical University (KSMU) is a state medical university in Kazan, Russia, dating from 1814 and teaching more than 2,200 international students. For 2026/27 General Medicine costs 636,000 RUB a year in English or Russian. You apply between 20 June and 15 July and pass online tests in Chemistry and English or Russian, with at least 65 points in each.
Create a free applicant account. We check your documents before submission, and a Univenter coordinator guides you to enrolment.