Russia's Higher School of Economics (HSE) will grant free bachelor's and master's degrees to applicants who sign a one-year contract with the BARS Moscow volunteer detachment or a drone warfare unit, the university announced on its website, as reported by TASS and the news outlet Ostorozhno, Novosti.
To qualify for a tuition-free place, applicants must sign the contract directly through HSE. The university then enrolls them in an additional education program, and after the contract ends, transfers them to a bachelor's or master's program, HSE explained. The university stressed that “this option is also suitable for those applicants who do not qualify for state-funded places at HSE due to a shortage of a few points.”
HSE also noted that under its 2026 admissions campaign, it has set aside places under “separate” and “special” quotas — including for participants in the war against Ukraine and their children — amounting to at least 10% of all state-funded places on each program.
In late June, as The Insider reported, students at several Moscow universities, including RANEPA, HSE, and MAI, received emails offering them to join the BARS Moscow detachment. The emails claimed that the contract is signed with the Defense Ministry for one year, that volunteers are not considered military personnel, and that they are not sent to the zone of the “special military operation.” However, Grigory Sverdlin, founder of the project “Idite Lesom,” previously warned that assurances about the contract's fixed term cannot be trusted: “There was no decree ending mobilization. During a period of mobilization, all contracts are indefinite,” The Insider quoted the human rights activist as saying.