Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to analyze the outcomes of the financial optimization process launched by the recent reforms in the Russian higher education sector and its impact on access to higher education, its quality and competitiveness within the sector. The study of the economic performance of higher educational institutions includes complex analysis of financial and educational components of their structural dynamics and their impact on their development strategy. Design/methodology/approach -The methods used in the study of the segmentation of the higher education sector involve a combination of theoretical developments in economics and the modeling of the economic behavior of universities on the market for educational services, procedures for the evaluation of transaction costs in the markets with asymmetric information and recent conceptions of the interrelation of factors affecting quality and accessibility of higher education. Findings -In this paper, the economic potential of Russian universities is considered, making use of a segmentation of the higher education sector, based on sampling of state and municipal higher education institutions from different industry groups, depending on their development strategy under changing social and economic conditions. The research data for 2006-2009 help to define five clusters of the higher educational establishments with different approaches towards public funding and different strategies. Originality/value -Based on the research data, the paper evaluates the current situation in the Russian higher education sector and some skewed structures of the reforms and outlines some policy implications.

The higher education system, a field of activity that defines the requirements for professional qualifications, that can impact structural changes in employment and foster dynamic economic development and increased competition, was one of the first sectors to be exposed to market failure. Issues of better access to higher education in various countries increasingly fit specific consistent patterns as desired results are achieved: from positive effects in the initial stages to problems that prevent growth in the number of students in the state-subsidized segment at subsequent stages, including the rigid regulation by the state. To confirm similar processes against the background of the demographic problems in Russia affecting the number of students, an empirical analysis was performed to reveal the factors influencing a surge in demand on the basis of an assessment of the correlation of a higher education resource base, production, and the industrial capacity of a region's development. This study shows successive stages of change in the public demand for higher education and confirms the justified consequences of the transition to decisive actions pertaining to the optimization of educational, material, technical, financial, and intellectual resources.Keywords: Russia, demand for higher education, student enrolment, industrial capacity of regions, financial solvency of a population Over time, the demand for higher education in Russia has fundamentally changed under the influence of external and internal factors. However, despite adverse circumstances, the Russian system of higher education succeeds in matching the level of many other countries that maintains a number of students pursuing advanced degrees.The globalization of economic knowledge and demographic changes in many countries has resulted in a growing demand for higher education alongside simultaneous cuts in state financing, forcing universities to increasingly rely on tuition fees and seek out alternative income sources to ensure economic sustainability (Araya & Peters, 2010;Sheng-jun, 2011).However, American scholars (using a two-stage least squares model to study the supply and demand in enrolment to state-funded higher education institutions) have demonstrated certain difficulties in keeping a

Статья подготовлена по результатам участия специалистов Национального исследовательского университета «Высшая школа экономики» в работе по проведению апробации Аналитического компонента Комплексной системы управления финансами Минобрнауки России в 2015 г.

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