During Russia’s period of economic reform, many secondary specialized educational institutions traveled the path from technical college to academy or university. This process reflected broader trends in the education system and the needs of a developing market economy.
The Technical College as a Type of Institution
A technikum, or technical college (from the German Technikum), is a type of secondary specialized institution that trains mid-level specialists for various sectors of the economy. In the Soviet education system, technical colleges held an important place, supplying qualified personnel to industry, agriculture, healthcare, education, and other fields.
By official definition, a technical college is a secondary specialized educational institution implementing core professional programs of basic-level secondary vocational education. Study at a technical college typically lasted two to four years, depending on the specialty and applicants’ prior education.
The Specifics of Finance-and-Economics Technical Colleges
Finance-and-economics technical colleges trained specialists for work in banking, bookkeeping, and the planning-and-economics departments of enterprises. Graduates received qualifications such as «technician-economist,» «accountant,» or «bank employee,» and could find work in corresponding mid-level positions.
Curricula included:
- Fundamentals of economic theory
- Bookkeeping and financial reporting
- Finance and credit
- Statistics
- Planning and management
- Legal subjects
The Process of Institutional Transformation
Turning technical colleges into higher-education institutions didn’t happen automatically and required meeting a number of conditions. The process was regulated by state education-management bodies and unfolded in several stages.
An Intermediate Stage: Colleges
The first step in transforming many technical colleges was converting them into «colleges» (a higher-status designation in the Russian system). Under the regulations, a college differs from a technical college in that it offers not just basic-level but also advanced-level secondary vocational programs.
Becoming a college let an institution:
- Broaden its range of educational programs
- Raise the level of specialist training
- Improve its physical and technical infrastructure
- Attract more qualified teaching staff
Requirements for Institute or Academy Status
To transform into a higher-education institution, a school had to meet strict criteria:
Physical Infrastructure
- Academic buildings meeting sanitary standards
- A library with an adequate collection
- Laboratories and specialized classrooms
- Student dormitories
- Sports facilities
Faculty
- A required share of faculty holding advanced degrees
- The presence of doctors and candidates of science
- Faculty qualifications matching the subjects taught
- Regular faculty professional development
Academic Programs
- Development of higher-education curricula
- Creation of methodological materials
- Organization of research activity
- A system for monitoring educational quality
Academies as a Type of Higher-Education Institution
In the Russian education system, an academy is a higher-education institution that runs undergraduate and postgraduate professional programs across a broad range of fields. Academies typically specialized in a particular area of knowledge.
Types of Academies
Depending on their focus, academies were grouped as:
Economics Academies
- Finance-and-economics academies
- Management academies
- Trade-and-economics academies
- Banking academies
Technical Academies
- Technology academies
- Architecture-and-construction academies
- Transport academies
Humanities Academies
- Pedagogical academies
- Law academies
- Arts academies
The Specifics of Finance-and-Economics Academies
Finance-and-economics academies, built on the base of technical colleges of the corresponding profile, specialized in training economists, financiers, and managers at a higher qualification level. They offered programs in:
- Economics — training general-profile economists
- Finance and Credit — banking-sector specialists
- Accounting, Analysis, and Auditing — chief accountants, auditors
- Management — managerial personnel
- Marketing — specialists in promoting goods and services
- World Economy — experts in foreign economic activity
Educational Quality and Graduate Employment
The quality of education at these newly formed academies varied significantly. Institutions with a solid foundation and experienced faculty managed to provide a respectable standard of training. But some academies, created in haste without proper physical infrastructure or staffing, ran into serious problems.
The Quality-Assessment System
A state accreditation system for higher-education institutions was created to control educational quality. Academies had to regularly undergo procedures confirming they met established standards.
Diplomas and Their Recognition
Academy graduates received state-issued diplomas of higher education. A «summa cum laude diploma» («red diploma») was awarded to students with outstanding academic results. But on the job market, the value of diplomas from different academies was assessed very differently, depending on an institution’s reputation.
Specialties in Foreign Economic Relations
The field «External Economic Relations,» or «World Economy,» became especially popular at academies built on the base of finance-and-economics technical colleges. This specialty trained specialists to work:
- In the foreign-economic-relations departments of enterprises
- At trade representations
- At banks handling foreign-trade operations
- At consulting firms
- In government bodies overseeing foreign trade
The Curriculum
Students studied a broad range of subjects:
Economics Courses
- World economy
- International trade
- Currency regulation
- Foreign economic activity of enterprises
- International economic relations
Language Training
- Foreign languages (usually two or three)
- Business foreign language
- Technical translation
- Area studies
Legal Subjects
- International law
- Foreign-trade law
- Currency legislation
- Customs affairs
Regional Variation in the Transformation
The process of turning technical colleges into academies had its own regional character. In major industrial centers and regional capitals, multi-disciplinary academies emerged, while smaller towns more often ended up with narrowly specialized institutes.
Factors Behind a Successful Transformation
- The region’s economic standing — wealthier regions had more resources to fund educational institutions
- Demand for specialists — the presence of enterprises needing highly qualified personnel
- Administrative support — local authorities’ interest in developing higher education
- Competition — proximity to major universities pushed institutions to raise their standards
State Regulation of the Transformation
Russia’s Ministry of Education oversaw the process of creating new higher-education institutions. A licensing and accreditation system was set up to ensure academies met the required standards.
Licensing
Obtaining a license to conduct educational activity required:
- Confirmation of physical infrastructure
- A qualified teaching staff
- Development of academic programs
- A quality-management system for education
State Accreditation
Accreditation granted the right to issue state-recognized diplomas and involved assessing:
- The quality of graduates’ training
- How well academic programs matched state standards
- Faculty potential
- Physical and technical resources
- Research activity
Results of the Transformation
The transformation of technical colleges into academies and institutes became a significant phenomenon in Russian education. It broadened access to higher education, especially in regions that previously lacked institutions of the relevant profile.
Even so, educational quality at these new academies varied considerably. The most successful were the institutions able to attract qualified faculty, build modern infrastructure, and establish ties with employers.
The «External Economic Relations» specialty became one of the most popular at economics academies, reflecting the needs of a developing market economy for specialists in international business.