Moscow schoolchildren are increasingly applying not to metropolitan universities, but to regional ones. At MIPT, the passing score approached 97, at MEPhI it exceeded 91, and a year of study for a number of programs already costs 1–1.5 million rubles. For many families, this becomes unaffordable.
Tomsk State, Kazan Federal, Ural Federal, and Baltic Federal Universities, meanwhile, are recording a steady influx of applicants from Moscow. In engineering fields, the number of applicants has grown by 25–30%, and passing scores for IT specialties in the regions already reach 260–270.
Interest is fueled not only by affordable prices but also by the growing demand for personnel in industry. 66% of machine-building enterprises report a shortage of engineering and technical specialists. This is what makes a regional diploma worthwhile: the average salary of a design engineer across the country is 80–120 thousand rubles, in Moscow the median is about 150 thousand, and maximum offers for experienced specialists reach 250–300 thousand.
Four years of study at a metropolitan university cost approximately 6 million rubles – this is three to four years of an engineer's work with an average salary. A regional university for 250–400 thousand per year provides the same qualification and access to a comparable labor market. This is how the exodus of "purple-collar workers" from Moscow begins – future engineers and technologists leave for a diploma where it costs reasonable money.