HSE University to Attract More Students from African Countries
The number of HSE students from Africa has exceeded 200 this year. Today, 235 students from 31 African countries study at the university. Last year, 175 students from 29 countries studied at HSE University.
A total of 1,400 people from 49 African countries applied to HSE’s bachelor’s programmes from 2017 to 2022, making up 5.5% of the total number of applications to bachelor’s programmes. Over 5,100 people from 51 African countries have chosen master’s studies at the university, which is almost 30% of the total applications by foreign citizens.
The majority of African HSE students come from Nigeria, Ghana, and Egypt; 74% of them study in Moscow and about 20% in St Petersburg. Most African students study on a Russian government scholarship.
Viktoria Panova
‘Today, Africa is the continent with the world’s youngest population. It is a promising and dynamic region,’ said HSE Vice Rector Viktoria Panova. ‘Russia and Africa have traditionally had good relations: the experience of cooperation accumulated by our countries over the decades has become a solid foundation for multilateral relations with African countries. We hope that in the new global context, this experience will help us to enhance our academic dialogue.’
According to Viktoria Panova, HSE University is already well known on the African continent. ‘It is very important to us that despite the economic and political difficulties, our university hasn’t experienced any significant decrease in the number of applications from Africa, which means we are on the right path,’ she said.
The most popular bachelor’s programmes among applicants from Africa are: International Business and Management Studies, Political Science and World Politics, and Sociology and Social Informatics. Applicants to master’s programmes are most interested in the Financial Economics, Population and Development, and Master of International Business programmes.
Andrey Maslov, Director of the HSE Centre for African Studies, believes that 235 students is a small number.
Andrey Maslov
‘However, we see a potential for a huge growth: HSE University is able to attract more students to bachelor’s programmes, more students from French-speaking Africa, from East African countries, from Algeria.’
HSE University is going to continue its consistent work in the African market. This includes establishing long-term partnerships with African universities, the implementation of programmes for higher and mid-level governmental officials, transfer of competencies in public administration of the economy, and the digital transformation of public administration, Andrey Maslov said. According to him, the Centre for African Studies is working with the HSE Institute for Public Administration and Governance to launch one such programme in spring 2023.