Higher School of Economics

What Higher School of Economics does

Higher School of Economics (HSE University) is a Russian national research university founded in 1992 (formally 1993) and headquartered at 11 Pokrovsky Bulvar, Moscow. It operates four campuses in Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Saint Petersburg, and Perm, enrolling more than 60,000 students and doctoral candidates and employing over 6,900 instructors and researchers. The university delivers undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and online programmes across economics, computer science, humanities, social sciences, mathematics, chemistry, and interdisciplinary fields, and reports a 95% alumni employment rate within six months of graduation.

HSE generates revenue from tuition across domestic and international degree programmes, research grants from bodies such as the Russian Science Foundation and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and government block funding as a designated national research university under the Priority 2030 programme and the HSE Development Programme to 2030. International recruitment is executed through a sales-led motion spanning the hse.ru/en website, scholarship competitions (Open Doors, HSE Global Scholarship Competition), international education summits, and more than 400 partner universities worldwide.

On the technology side, the AI and Digital Science Institute and the Laboratory for Matrix and Tensor Methods in Machine Learning develop proprietary AI methods including ProcrustesGPT (an orthogonal-transformation LLM compression technique reducing model size by 25-36%), the GigaChat multimodal model, the StyleFeatureEditor image editing method (CVPR 2024), a stroke root cause determination neural network built with Perm City Clinical Hospital No. 4, a manuscript deciphering neural network, an El Niño climate prediction network built with Yandex Cloud and Yandex School of Data Analysis, and a tabular data anonymisation service for compliance use. HSE pursues these capabilities through a dense partnership network with Yandex Research, Yandex Cloud, the AIRI Institute, VK, INEOS RAS, Skoltech, the RAS Institute of Higher Nervous Activity, MISiS, and international partners such as the University of Bremen and Peking University Graduate School of Education.

Name

Higher School of Economics

Legal name

National Research University Higher School of Economics (НИУ ВШЭ)

Website

https://hse.ru

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

HSE University is a Russian national research university operating four campuses (Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Saint Petersburg, Perm) with over 60,000 students and 6,900 faculty, delivering degree and doctoral programmes, conducting AI and applied research, and partnering with 400+ international universities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Research Universities with Comprehensive Graduate & Professional Schools (EDAHAAAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

International & Global Research Universities (Multi-Campus/International Footprint) (EDAHABAI), Research & Lab-Based Short-Term Programs (Undergraduate/Graduate) (EDAIAIAF)

Keywords

• Higher education programs
• Research university services
• Academic degree programs
• Social science research
• Professional development training

Headquarters

HQ city

Moscow

HQ country

Russia

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Tuition Fees: Revenue from undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and online degree programmes with varying tuition fees for domestic and international students.
2. Research Grants: Funding from Russian Science Foundation and Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation supporting research projects.
3. Government Funding: State funding as a national research university under Priority 2030 and HSE Development Programme until 2030.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

National research university in Russia delivering higher education programs across bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels with teaching and research spanning social sciences, economics, humanities, mathematics, computer science, and natural sciences. Also provides professional training, a corporate anonymization service, international summer programs, and conducts large-scale funded research projects.

Product overview

HSE University is a comprehensive higher education institution with multiple campuses (Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Saint Petersburg, Perm) offering undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and online programmes. The university's technology portfolio includes AI research conducted through the AI and Digital Science Institute and affiliated laboratories, which develop proprietary AI methods and applications including the ProcrustesGPT LLM compression technology, tabular data anonymisation services, and various neural network applications for healthcare (stroke diagnosis), digital humanities (manuscript deciphering), and computer vision (image editing). The Faculty of Computer Science, including its newly launched robotics programmes, collaborates with industry partners like VK on student projects in AI, information security, and digital platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bachelor's Degree Programs

Quantifiable outcome

• 95% of alumni find employment within six months of graduation
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability11 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and regional.

• Nesmeyanov Institute of Organoelement Compounds of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INEOS RAS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 June 2026Joint research collaboration in chemistry, specifically in organoelement chemistry. Researchers from HSE University and INEOS RAS jointly discovered methods for aldehyde reductive addition reactions. The study was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.
• AIRI InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 June 2026Collaborative research in neural networks and AI, including methods for quickly fine-tuning neural networks and image editing. Partnership involves joint research published at major conferences including NeurIPS 2024 and CVPR 2024.
• Yandex ResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint laboratory established for machine learning research, specifically focused on tabular data. Ivan Rubachev works in the HSE University laboratory jointly established with Yandex Research.
• Yandex CloudcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint development of neural network for predicting El Nino climate anomalies, capable of predicting events 1.5 years in advance. Collaboration combines HSE research expertise with Yandex Cloud infrastructure.
• SkoltechcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint educational programme in Cognitive Neurobiology, jointly delivered with HSE University and the RAS Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology. First graduating class of 22 students received bachelor's degrees in multidisciplinary molecular biology and cognitive sciences.
• RAS Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and NeurophysiologycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint delivery of Cognitive Neurobiology educational programme with HSE University and Skoltech. First graduating class of 22 students received bachelor's degrees.
• Tongji University (Shanghai)regionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational academic cooperation with mathematicians from HSE University-Nizhny Novgorod investigating structural stability in systems. Project led by Prof. Olga Pochinka as part of HSE University's International Academic Cooperation programme.
• University of SydneyregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlumni progression partnership where HSE graduate Stephen Sodoke won Student Research Paper Competition and subsequently secured PhD position at University of Sydney, publishing two Q1 journal articles.
• Peking University Graduate School of EducationregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint international forum on higher education evolution, vocational education systems, and researcher training programmes. HSE Institute of Education and Peking University co-organized the Russia-China Dialogue forum.
• State University of Campinas (Unicamp, Brazil)regionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership with delegation visits and joint cooperation. Meeting in Moscow took place as part of International Partner Week at HSE University-St Petersburg.
• Sultan Qaboos University (Oman)regionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerExpanding academic and research partnership with focus on artificial intelligence as strategic development priority. Delegation visit to HSE University discussing new forms of cooperation.
• VK (VKontakte)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint HSE & VK Engineering and Mathematics School conducting workshops in artificial intelligence, information security, and digital platforms. Students present projects at VK office Demo Days.
• United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)regionalOthersStudent internship programme where HSE International Relations students secure internships in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia as part of the Africa Track.
• MISiS National University of Science and TechnologyregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative research in reinforcement learning for neural networks in 3D environments, achieving 15% performance improvement using attention mechanism.
• University of BremenregionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerThree-party collaboration including HSE AI Research Centre and AIRI for image editing method StyleFeatureEditor, published at CVPR 2024.
• Perm City Clinical Hospital No. 4regionalStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration to develop world's first neural network system for determining root cause of stroke in patients, developed at HSE Campus in Perm.
• Institute for Information Transmission Problems of the Russian Academy of SciencescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint research with mathematician Ivan Remizov solving equation considered unsolvable in quadratures since 19th century, published in Vladikavkaz Mathematical Journal.
• HSE MIEM and IPKON RAScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint development of mathematical monitoring model for real-time tracking of hazardous underground vibrations, published in Russian Mining Industry.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Tsinghua University: China's leading STEM and social science research university; comparable to HSE in scale, research intensity, and growing international footprint, and a relevant benchmark for joint programmes with HSE.
• Peking University: Top Chinese comprehensive research university and a key strategic partner of HSE; comparable in breadth across social sciences, humanities, and STEM, and serves as a benchmark for HSE's internationalisation ambitions in Asia.

Regional players

• Tongji University: Shanghai-based research university with which HSE-Nizhny Novgorod runs joint mathematics research; comparable as a comprehensive research institution with strong engineering and applied science emphasis, though operating primarily in the Chinese market.
• State University of Campinas (Unicamp): Leading Brazilian public research university with a long-standing partnership with HSE; comparable as a comprehensive research institution serving as a regional anchor in its geography, though operating in Latin America rather than Russia/Eurasia.

Direct peers

• Lomonosov Moscow State University: Russia's flagship public research university and HSE's primary domestic comparator; offers similar breadth across social sciences, economics, mathematics, and computer science, and competes for the same domestic student pool and federal research funding.
• ITMO University: St. Petersburg-based Russian research university with a strong computer science and AI focus; overlaps with HSE's Faculty of Computer Science and competes for the same technology-oriented student segment.
• Saint Petersburg State University: Russia's other leading comprehensive public research university; closely comparable to HSE in scale, disciplinary breadth, and federal national research university status, with overlap in social sciences, humanities, and computer science.
• Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT): Leading Russian STEM-focused research university; comparable to HSE in national research status, research intensity, and ability to attract top domestic technical talent, though narrower in disciplinary scope.
• Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech): Russian research university focused on STEM with strong industry ties; comparable to HSE in its national research university designation, AI/ML research output, and joint programmes, though narrower in disciplinary scope.
• National University of Science and Technology MISiS (NUST MISIS): Russian national research university with a STEM and applied sciences orientation; comparable to HSE in research university status and federal funding model, with some overlap in computer science and engineering programmes.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/HSE.english
• Instagraminstagram.com/hse_university
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/school

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Higher School of Economics