29 January 2026 19:22 (UTC+04:00)Starting September 1, 2026, Russia will abolish the traditional bachelor's and master's degrees, replacing them with a new system of basic and specialized higher education, Azernews reports. The announcement was made by Ksenia Goryacheva, First Deputy Chair of the State Duma Committee on Science and Higher Education (New People). According to Goryacheva, basic higher education will last four to six years, depending on the specialty, while specialized higher education will take one to three years. She described the specialized programs as an updated master’s degree format offering professional, managerial, and research tracks. “Previously, graduates of specialized programs could not apply for state-funded master’s places,” Goryacheva explained.