‘HSE Prep Year Programme Is an Amazing Investment in Your Future’

On July 3, 2024, the International Preparatory Year programme held its graduation ceremony. This academic year, 215 students (150 on state-funded and 65 on fee-paying places) from over 50 countries were enrolled in the programme. Graduates from Nigeria, Sudan, and Vietnam shared their impressions with the HSE News Service. Alexandra Nazarchuk, Director of the International Preparatory Year Programme talked about their achievements and plans for the coming year.

Since 2015, HSE’s International Prep Year programmes have been training international students, with little or no knowledge of Russian, before they begin a Russian-taught full-degree programmes. Upon completing the programme, students are expected to possess intermediate-level language skills and be ready to enter the Russian-taught full-degree programs at HSE and other Russian universities.

In the 2024/2025 academic year 220 students received full scholarships from the Russian Government to study in the Pre-University Training Programme. About 50 students will be enrolled on tuition.

The geography of the Prep Year students is diverse. Most of them came from Southeast and Central Asia, with around 60 students from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Korea, and Cambodia. There are also more than 40 students from Africa and over 40 from China and India. Students from the Middle East, Latin America, Europe, and the United States are also represented. They will continue their education at Russian universities, with most of them pursuing bachelor's and master's programmes at HSE University. The most popular fields among Prep Year graduates are international relations, management, economics, psychology, political science, business informatics, media communications, design, and linguistics.

In addition to their studies, Prep Year students tried their hand at research and public speaking. In April 2024, two students of the programme from the USA and Ghana took part in the 4th International Conference ‘Scientific Initiative of International Students and Postgraduates,’ which was held in Tomsk. Another two students from Sudan and Nigeria participated in the World Youth Festival held in Sochi. As noted by Alexandra Nazarchuk, Director of the International Preparatory Year Programme, the students have been taking part in student conferences for a few years, therefore the programme staff came up with the idea to organise and host a special scientific conference with the participation of preparatory students as well as those from similar divisions at other Russian universities.

Alexandra Nazarchuk

Director of the International Preparatory Year Programme

This year has been really special for us. We have seen an increase in the number of students from different countries compared to last year. Also, we have welcomed new teachers and instructors into our team, and we have launched new programmes. Overall, I am very positive about this year, and our team has been great. We experienced some challenges with personnel issues as we train more students each year.

I am satisfied with the last year. We managed to maintain a stable educational process of our well-proven and high-quality programme against all odds. And now we can see the beautiful happy faces of students who represent the entire world.

We have brilliant people studying, making careers, and even starting families. I would like to thank all our teachers and students. Now we are celebrating, and tomorrow we’ll start preparing for the next year as we have even more plans and ideas to put into action.

The graduation party was organised as a quest on Russian culture, where the students could demonstrate their achievements in learning the Russian language. The quest featured many activities including singing Russian songs, making traditional amulet dolls, drawing Russian ornaments, giving useful advice in Russian, taking photos in a Russian style, and many others. The quest was followed by a traditional cake and gifts for all programme students that managed to master Russian within a year.

Prep Year graduates shared their impressions of the programme, as well as challenges and plans for the coming academic year.

© HSE University

Niambe Dorcas Sedoo, Nigeria

I hadn’t studied Russian before the programme start, it was a real challenge for me. Some students had learnt Russian before they came here, and for me it was rather difficult. However, everything turned out to be great.

Our teachers really helped out the beginners like me, they were so kind to us, we felt like family

I enjoyed the programme’s extracurricular activities. We went on excursions and we had a speaking club, where we played games in Russian, and it really helped.

In the autumn I’ll begin my studies at the Pedagogy programme at HSE University which is taught in Russian. Even though the first year of study will be challenging for me and I feel a bit scared as I have some problems using Russian cases correctly, the preparatory programme helped me a lot to improve my grammar and speaking skills. Russian is difficult, but I really want to speak the language, to be able to communicate with my future employers. I feel determined to do my best.

© HSE University

Abdalla Mohamed Zain Abdelgadir

My native language is Arabic, so Russian was extremely difficult for me. I had not studied Russian before I came here, I learnt the alphabet in Moscow. There is still a lot of grammar to learn, but our teachers really helped us make progress.

I was recommended to join HSE in 2019, and I heard it was a really good university. But, to be honest, I couldn’t have imagined how amazing HSE University was!

Everything here is great: the students, infrastructure, buildings, teachers, the staff… Everyone is so helpful

During the admission process the administration helped me with my documents. As the situation in my country is not stable, I could not complete the recognition process at the Russian Embassy in Sudan. But the Russian office at HSE University confirmed that it was okay, and allowed me to come and complete the enrolment process here, in Moscow.

During the programme we had a lot of activities. I liked the speaking club, where we communicated with other groups

We had a lot of fun and there were many different ways to practice learning the language.

I am going to pursue my studies here, at HSE University, and get a master’s degree in International Relations. I already have a bachelor’s degree in Engineering, but I’ve decided to change my career for one in a new field.

To everyone who is thinking of applying for a Prep Year programme, I would highly recommend it. It is an amazing investment in your future.

© HSE University

Tran Thi Ngan, Vietnam

I started learning Russian a long time ago when I lived in Vietnam. I had been studying for about 10 years before I came to Moscow. But I had no friends in Vietnam to practice my Russian, so I read and listened to Russian natives. When I came to Russia, I started practicing my speaking skills and now I speak much better. I received 100 points on the speaking section of the Russian exams!

Speaking about the preparatory programme, I was really impressed by the teachers

They were so kind and attentive and helped me a lot. Every night, when I did my homework and could not understand something, I texted my teachers, and they immediately replied to me. It was really nice and helpful.

HSE is a wonderful university, the infrastructure is amazing. I want to continue my studies here

I enrolled in the bachelor’s programme in Marketing and Market Analytics, which starts in September. I am very excited about the upcoming year, because my roommate also studies in this programme, and she told me that it’s really challenging.

I recommend that everyone who is going to study Russian should apply to the preparatory programme to practice Russian regularly, to speak more, get used to the grammar and vocabulary, and practice your listening skills. I think listening is the most important thing in learning Russian.