The Institutional Support of Master Studies in Russia: Non-Commercial Actors and the Effects of their Influence

This paper presents the results of studying non-state actors’ institutional support for masters’ teachers. The authors analyze the tracks of the introduction and a «life cycle» of the master’s educational product created with the support of the Vladimir Potanin Foundation – the only non-commercial organization in Russia which supports students and professors at the master’s level. The study shows that the support for masters’ teachers makes a significant contribution to changing the role of this degree in higher education. There are outlined the long-term effects of supporting masters’ teachers, which are supposed to create an environment for developing talents, improving the educational results of master students, teachers’ advanced training, and integrating master programs into university’s and region’s strategic goals of development. For higher education researchers, for teachers and managers of master programs, for university administrators, and for higher education transformation decision makers in Russia.