ABSTRACT
‘Those who continue their education, now do not earn very much.’ This is how one participant in the focus groups summed up the attitude of young people today towards higher education. Indeed, as a result of the changes which have taken place in Russia as a whole, there has been a noticeable shift in the attitudes of young people towards higher education. It is generally accepted that these changes began in 1985, although the most profound transformation in the education system came only with the introduction of market relations. It was only then, for example, that new educational institutions such as lycées and grammar schools (recalling pre-revolutionary institutions in Russia) as well as colleges and private schools appeared. It was then also that many higher educational establishments across the country began to offer courses on a feepaying basis. Although these processes have been considered and analysed by a number of authors, the transformational period being experienced by former socialist societies presents us with a continuing stream of new issues for discussion.
