A delegation from Stavropol State Agrarian University, consisting of Svetlana Maksimovich, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, and Alexander Moskvitin, Head of the press service, took part in a meeting chaired by Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.

The event was attended by vice-rectors and heads of press services of 17 universities participating in the pilot project on the transition to a new model of higher education. The main topic of the meeting was the formation of a unified information policy aimed at raising awareness among teachers, applicants and their parents about the goals, mechanisms and results of the project.

As Valery Falkov noted, the starting point of the transformation was the Message of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to the Federal Assembly in 2023, which outlined the need for systemic changes in higher education. The Minister stressed that the renewal of the higher education system is due to the transition to a new technological order, the transformation of the labor market and the accumulated internal contradictions of the current model. 

As part of the reform, it is planned to move to a single level of higher education, separate the master's degree into an independent level of professional education, introduce new approaches to the development of educational standards, as well as strengthen the interaction of universities with the real sector of the economy.

During the meeting, Konstantin Mogilevsky, Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, discussed with the participants further steps to coordinate information support for the project. 

Stavropol State Agrarian University was included in the expanded list of participants in the pilot project in 2026. The relevant decision was made by the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. SSAU has become the only agricultural university in the country and the only university in the North Caucasus Federal District to participate in the project. 

The pilot project has been implemented since 2023 and extended until 2030. The new model provides for basic higher education lasting from 4 to 6 years, specialized higher education as a level of advanced training, as well as postgraduate studies, allocated to a separate level of professional education for the training of scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel.

The university notes that the training of specialists with fundamental knowledge, practical skills and research competencies is fundamentally important for the agricultural sector. In this regard, basic education will be more holistic and long-lasting without formal division into levels.