Anna Tyshetskaya: 'Choose Your Own Colours for HSE University-St Petersburg!'
HSE University, along with the entire country, celebrates Knowledge Day and starts a new academic year. Anna Tyshetskaya, Director of HSE University-St Petersburg, congratulates the team on the first day of studies, talks about the results of the admission campaign, and reveals future plans.
HSE University starts a new academic year. It is an indispensable and always exciting part of student life, a starting point for brand new ideas, projects and plans. A point of growth. Thirty years ago, HSE University was created as a point of growth for Russian education. It was meant to facilitate the development of the national economy by training competent specialists of a new kind—at first, in the sphere of economics, but now in various spheres and disciplines.
Over these years, the university has reached significant heights, and it now holds leading positions in various rankings: industry, institutional, reputation, research, and graduate employment and salary.
RESULTS OF THE ADMISSION CAMPAIGN
HSE University-St Petersburg is part of a big university, but it is also an independent campus which prospective students choose consciously and deliberately because of its unique programmes, because of its wide opportunities, and because it is Saint Petersburg. Every year, our leadership is proven by the results of the admission campaign. The best people come to our university—they are intelligent, motivated and ambitious. This year, 23.8% more people than last year applied to our university. What is more, the average score of enrolled students has significantly increased to 94.68 (up from 93.75 in 2021). Of course, this was caused by the 17.5% boost in the number of academic competition winners (343) who applied to the campus. HSE University policy is to enrol all the winners of academic competitions who apply to our campus. However, we still provide enrolment opportunities to prospective students who achieve high scores in state exams. In order to do this, we add so-called 'quasi state-funded' places financed by HSE University. This year, including the places provided by the 'Social Elevator' programme (19 places), we added 163 such places: so in reality, we did not accept 583 as we had planned before, but 746 first-year students of bachelor's programmes who will be studying on state-funded places. Moreover, about a thousand students entered bachelor's programmes on fee-paying places.
At the moment, we have 429 first-year students on state-funded places for master's programmes; 30 students will study on the places financed by HSE University; 201 students are on fee-paying places. However, these numbers are not final, as enrolment in part-time programmes is still ongoing. Overall, including international students (213), we are happy to welcome about two thousand first-year students.
NEW PROGRAMMES
This year, we launched four new bachelor's programmes, and they immediately provoked considerable interest. The Bachelor’s programme Applied Data Analysis and Artificial Intelligence was the most sought-after among prospective students—competition was highest there (27,25 people per place), and a lot of winners of academic competitions applied. As a result, 20 state-funded places were supplemented by 46 places financed by HSE University.
There were 180 state-funded places on the International Bachelor's in Business and Economics, which is the first in Russia, and we enrolled 94 winners of academic competitions in this programme. Apparently, they, just like we, saw the opportunity to get two qualifications on this programme: in Economics and Management. What's more, this programme is partnered with VK.
The first cohort of the Bachelor's programme Media Communications included one of the 14 enrolled students who entered the university with 100 points for the state exams.
In partnership with Ozon, the university successfully launched our campus's first online programme, Digital Platforms and Logistics, which was, in a certain sense, a challenge.
In addition, as we had planned, we launched the Master's programme Design as a follow-up to the Bachelor's programme, creating a full education cycle in this sphere.
DEVELOPING INTERNATIONALITY
HSE University quickly responds to changes in the external world and the challenges of time, but it never alters its values. One of them is internationality. Our university is still integrated into the international educational system—we welcome international students and develop academic mobility programmes. This year, we have 112 accepted applications for academic mobility.
One of the indicators of internationality is an increase in the number of enrolled students in the 'Business and Politics in Modern Asia' Master's programme. In June, 35 state-funded places were added, bringing the total number of places to 55—a unique number for master's programmes. On the one hand, it is a significant challenge for the university, but on the other hand, it gave the students more opportunities. In the end, even given such target admission indicators, the programme competition rate was still more than two people per place.
A PRACTICAL APPROACH
People come to us to get an education which will be in demand in the labour market, as HSE University provides knowledge, competencies and skills. It shapes the professional community: students and experts interact within various projects and programmes as equals. Partnerships with companies, many of which are industry leaders, give us an opportunity to integrate new practices and internships, business cases and specialised modules into our educational programmes. Year after year, the projects and students are supported by Rostelecom, Lenta, Setl Group and others. This year, we have new strategic partners: VK and Ozon.
Project work motivates students to reach new frontiers, both individually and in teams. During the last academic year, it was a student of our university who won the 'Battle of the History Faculties'. The Law faculty team won the Tax Live contest on Russian taxation for the third time. The members of the HSE University-St Petersburg programming team were gold medallists in the Northern Eurasia Championship and took part in the finals of the ICPC-2022 World Programming Championship.
UNIVERSITY STARTS AT SCHOOL
We are interested in creating a continuous educational trajectory which consists of pre-university and postgraduate education. This year, we signed an agreement with the governor of Saint Petersburg on the development of school education: we plan to open a lyceum in the city. Next year, by the first of September, we will start enrolling pupils. Another agreement is related to creating a campus-based methodology centre for more than ten schools in Saint Petersburg. Our work with schools is aimed at helping talented and motivated pupils to become our students—we are building the future of the university.
Talking about postgraduate education, we mean the expansion of PhD programmes, which are becoming a natural and necessary stage of the career ladder for future lecturers and campus heads. They also shape the labour pool. In terms of PhD programmes, we also went beyond the economic, social and human sciences. We utilise the full scientific potential of the campus and Saint Petersburg with might and main.
HSE UNIVERSITY—A WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITIES
The world is constantly changing and so is the university, but people will always be our greatest value. I truly wish that over the years at HSE University, every student realises their potential and builds up their competencies. It is also very important to find 'your' people here, an inner circle which will understand, help, and support you and be happy for your achievements.
Make the most of every second, from enrolment to graduation. Stay curious and vibrant. Collect unique knowledge, impressions, and events. Mix all the possibilities. Create your own HSE University-St Petersburg, and you will be surprised at how bright and useful your student life can be!
Congratulations to everyone—students, lecturers, and university staff on September 1! May you all have a good year!