Growing Popularity of Russian-Chinese Double Degree Diplomas in Russia

Abstract: Double degree programs in Russia began to appear during the period of Russia's desire to integrate into West-lead educational space. Double degree programs in Russia appeared primarily as an attempt of Russian universities to offer students the opportunity to obtain a diploma from prestigious European universities. Russian foreign policy has experienced enormous transformation after 2022. For Russia, in the current situation, the largest and most developed country preferable for educational cooperation is China. Currently, many Russian universities, both the leading and mediocre ones have already opened or are planning to open double degree programs together with Chinese universities in an attempt to increase the prestige of the educational services. The opening of double degree programs together with Chinese universities can already be called an emerging trend in the field of higher education in Russia. The purpose of the study is to analyze the specifics of double degree programs for the Russian students implemented by Russian universities in partnership with Chinese universities. General scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, abstraction and generalization, and a comparative approach were used as research methods. The research question is whether the trends inherent in double degree programs implemented by Russian and Western universities are also typical of the double degree programs implemented by Russian universities in partnership with Chinese universities. The research made it possible to identify the peculiarities of such Sino-Russian double degree programs. The specifics of double degree programs for the Russian students implemented by Russian universities in partnership with Chinese universities include the predominance of bachelor degree programs over master’s degree programs, most programs appeared during the last 10 years and there is growing popularity of Sino-Russian double degree programs, the programs are implemented by both leading and mediocre universities, the predominant specialization of such programs is business and management.