Open Elective and Optional Courses

HSE University's flexible study system allows students to choose an individual educational track in order to acquire knowledge and skills in the areas that are interesting and important for them.

Students choose courses from the Programme's approved curriculum and form their individual curricula. The courses include:

• Mandatory courses of the programme curriculum’s core
• Elective courses of the programme curriculum chosen from the elective course list and according to the rule of choice (1 out of 2; 2 out of 4, etc.)

A student’s individual curriculum for one academic year should include 60 credits.

Almost all programme curricula include a list of optional courses recommended for students in the programme. It is up to students whether to include a certain optional course in their individual curriculum. Credits for these subjects are accumulated above the necessary 60 credits a year, which means that a student is fully responsible for the grades received for these courses.

There are three types of courses that are not included in programme curricula. They vary by target audiences and conditions of choice and assessment:

MAGOLEGO, or ‘elective courses from the open university list’ – these are courses from an obligatory list of elective courses to be chosen by first-year Master’s students in all educational programmes.

OPEN OPTIONAL COURSES – courses in various fields of study that can be studied by students of any faculty, class year, or educational programme. Their important feature is that they can be studied not only by HSE students, but also by anyone from other Moscow universities or elsewhere who has a wish to do so.

Recommended online courses