HSE University Named Online University of the Year
HSE University is among the winners of the All-Russia Effective Education competition and was named Online University of the Year by the expert jury. The competition receives more than 150 applications a year from major education business players and HR industry leaders.
This year’s competition categories included ‘Corporate Programmes’, ‘Educational Projects’, ‘Social Programmes’, ‘HR Brand’, ‘Business Education’, ‘Partner Projects’, ‘Startup Projects’, ‘Innovations’, ‘Investments’ and others. HSE University won in the ‘Online Education’ category. The prizes were awarded at the Effective Education forum held in Moscow on December 13 with support from the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Federal State Statistics Service, the Association of Young Russian Entrepreneurs, HeadHunter, the Foundation for the Development of Internet Initiatives, and other specialised organisations.
Emotions as Capital
The competition organisers noted the recent shift in focus from IQ to EQ. In transforming markets, emotional intelligence governs the ability to adapt to constantly changing rules of the game and to find points of professional growth in new areas. Today, university graduates face two main issues: a lack of professional competencies and an inability to apply skills or find a niche that corresponds to one’s abilities. The rate of employment and success among graduates in this context is a key indicator of the value of a university’s educational content.
The forum hosted the round table ‘Digital Transformation in Education: Current Trends and Development Prospects’, which examined the extent to which online education is prepared to meet the challenges of the labour market and which online tools can be used to train sought-after workers. The discussion covered topics such as the gamification of education as a tool for increasing involvement in the learning process, the development of digital literacy in employees, and the role of EdTech in reducing economic costs. Yulia Remezova, Director of eLearning at HSE University, took part in the meeting. She noted that over the last ten years, digital education at HSE University has evolved into a stable ecosystem created to implement large-scale online courses, specialisations, and full higher education programmes held completely online. In 2020, the university launched the Master of Data Science programme—the first fully English-taught online master’s programme in Russia. In 2023, HSE University will offer 21 programmes on the higher education market.
Digital higher education not only offers an unprecedented opportunity to combine studies and work, learn from anywhere in the world and independently choose tracks, but also provides flexibility in choosing a future specialisation. Before taking the major step of applying to the university, candidates can sample content from the online programme in open intensive courses, boot camps, webinars and meetups with industry experts. Prospective candidates can evaluate how well a programme’s academic base and practical block correspond to their expectations through large-scale open online courses integrated into curricula and by accessing a range of specialisations.
Development Programme
Each online education programme is focused on training first-class personnel for the public and corporate sectors. That is why the tracks of the online bachelor’s and master’s programmes at HSE University have been developed in accordance with the demands of key employers and with their participation. HSE Online trains professionals for successful implementation within the growing requirements of the digital economy: experts in computer vision, data science, machine learning and high-load systems, business analytics, finance, design, legal tech and more. Students of these programmes include not only recent graduates looking for future professions, but also experienced specialists, business owners, and startup founders who want to update their competencies and gain access to the latest research and expertise at HSE University. The online programmes are created with the participation of industry partners; business laboratories, practical seminars, and internships provide students with opportunities to solve relevant cases and add implemented projects to their graduate portfolios.
As a result, interest in online programmes is growing. A total of 958 new online students joined HSE University this year—an increase of 56% over last year. More than 1,500 online students study at HSE University. The university is ranked third for graduate demand in the RAEX ranking. According to the HSE University Centre for Institutional Research, 83% of graduates consider themselves to be competitive on the labour market. The same number are working in their specialty field, and the employment rate at graduation is 96%.
Text by Ekaterina Zinkovskaya, HSE University eLearning Office