DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONAL UNIVERSITIES IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION: IMPACT ON EDUCATIONAL IMMIGRATION

Relevance. An analysis of scientific papers on international educational migration shows that most foreign and domestic studies have been carried out at the country level. These studies characterize the volume of exports of national educational services, state policy changes in attracting foreign citizens to study, features of adapting foreign students and integrating graduates in the national labor market. At the same time, the influence of international educational immigration on the processes, taking place in certain territories of states, in regions, districts, cities, is studied to a lesser extent. In these regions, the attraction of foreign citizens to study at local universities would be considered as a development priority and competitive advantage not only of a specific higher educational institution, but also territorial education in general. Therefore, identifying the features of modern development of universities in Russian regions and changing the volumes and directions of educational immigration are important and relevant areas of scientific research. The study aims at identifying the features of development of regional universities and impact of the changes, taking place in them, on educational immigration volume. Methods: statistical analysis, comparison, generalization, content analysis of documents, structural method of presenting the material. Results. The article analyzes the main legal documents of reforming the higher education system in Russian regions, highlights the features and results of implementation of projects and programs to improve the efficiency of regional universities. Particular attention is paid to the characteristics of the volumes and directions of educational immigration in the universities of the Russian regions. Conclusions. The formation of federal universities, national research universities, and the creation of a network of flagship regional universities contributed to the development and strengthening of the system of higher educational institutions in the Russian regions. The positive changes that have taken place in the higher education systems of the regions of the country contributed to an increase in the contingent of foreign students there.