Published on: 2026-09-09
Source: Novosibirsk State University –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Based on the results of the 2026 admission campaign, Novosibirsk State University has improved the quality of its intake. Almost all bachelor’s and specialist degree programs saw increases compared to last year in both passing and average Unified State Exam (USE) scores. The average USE score, calculated according to the HSE National Research University methodology for monitoring admission quality (excluding scores for individual achievements), increased by at least 2 points compared to last year (83.8) and reached 86.5 for state-funded students and 82.5 overall for both state-funded and tuition-paying students (in 2025 it was 80.4). In 2026, 103 winners and prize-winners of prestigious school olympiads were admitted; 75 students scored a perfect 100 points (almost 40% more than last year), and 11 students scored 100 points in 2 subjects. This was reported by the rector of NSU, a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dmitry Pyshny at a press conference held today at TASS dedicated to the results of university admissions in the Novosibirsk region.
This year, over 3,000 students have started their studies at NSU at all levels of higher education (which is slightly more than last year). Taking into account those enrolled in the Higher College of Informatics and the Specialized Educational and Scientific Center at NSU, more than 3,500 new students have been admitted.
In 2026, NSU broke the historical record in admissions campaigns for the number of applicants and applications submitted for state-funded bachelor’s and specialist degree places. More than 11,000 applicants submitted documents — this is over 3,000 people (38%) more compared to last year. This year, the competition is 8.2 applicants per place (last year — 6.2). The total number of applications is over 36,000, which is 58% more than in 2025.
— Another very important indicator that we cannot help but be pleased with is that applicants from 85 regions, that is, practically all of the subjects of the Russian Federation (there are 89 in total), submitted documents to NSU, and as a result, among the enrolled students, we register representatives from 70 regions of Russia, while residents of Novosibirsk, the science city of Koltsovo, Berdsk, and Krasnoobsk make up only 38%. Thus, we can truly say with pride that we are a national university. — noted Dmitry Pyshny.
The composition of admitted budget/commercial/target students has not changed significantly: the proportion of tuition-paying students remains at just over 30%. The proportion of admitted master’s, postgraduate, and residency students at NSU who are graduates of other universities, including foreign ones, remains at 25%.
New educational programs, which traditionally combine NSU’s strong fundamental training with active participation of industrial partners in the educational process, are in high demand among applicants. These are two new bachelor’s programs “Applied Artificial Intelligence” and “Industrial Software Engineering Technologies” — winners of federal grant competitions for training highly qualified specialists in the fields of information technology and artificial intelligence; the master’s program of the NSU Advanced Engineering School “Digital Technologies of Knowledge-Intensive Engineering” in the field of “Technical Physics”; the master’s program “Distributed Systems” in the field of “Computer Science and Computer Engineering.”
— As for the bachelor’s degree, the highest competition among programs with more than 100 state-funded places is in the educational program “Informatics and Computer Engineering. Software Engineering and Computer Science.” The greatest increase in applications compared to last year is observed in fields related to information technology and engineering; the maximum increase is in two educational programs in artificial intelligence (the passing scores for them averaged about 270). This year, natural science programs were also in demand. In some of them, we even ran out of not only state-funded but also self-funded places. Among such programs are “Mathematics and Computer Science,” “Mechatronics and Robotics,” and “Biology.” The average score for the program “Physics” has noticeably increased. — Dmitry Pyshny said.
Among the enrolled are students from 25 foreign countries. NSU is the only university in Russia participating in three projects to create Chinese-Russian institutes (funded by the Ministry of Education of the PRC), two of which are starting for the first time this year. Already, 670 new Chinese students have been admitted to joint educational programs.
— As of December 31, 2025, there were approximately 1900 international students in total across all forms and levels of education. Mainly, these are representatives from the PRC, Asian countries, and the CIS, but the geography is expanding: there are even students coming from Latin America. Another very significant milestone: within the framework of “Technoprom-2026” we signed an agreement to establish a Russian college based on Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences (Islamic Republic of Iran). It is important to note that the Iranian side is highly interested in developing and expanding such ties, — shared Dmitry Pyshny.
As for graduate employment, NSU holds a leading position in Russia in the mathematical and natural sciences fields. According to statistics collected by the university over several years, about 70% of graduates find jobs in their specialty within the first year after graduation.
Thus, in 2026, nearly 2,000 people completed their studies at NSU (including bachelor’s, specialist, master’s, postgraduate, residency programs). According to a survey of graduates in which more than 1,700 participated, they work in areas such as science, high-tech companies — 28%, IT sector — 18%, education — 11%, healthcare and pharmaceuticals — 5%, finance, consulting, banks — 5%.
— Importantly, the majority of graduates — about 57% — remain in the Novosibirsk region. This is interesting, considering that the geography of those admitted to us is broad: only 38% are from the Novosibirsk region. In percentage terms, it turns out that we “anchor” people in the region, — concluded Dmitry Pyshny.
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