Top Russian university reveals fees for new AI faculty

Moscow State University launched an artificial intelligence faculty in the fall

The dean of Moscow State University (MSU) has outlined the approximate cost of studying at the university’s newly established artificial intelligence faculty, saying tuition will be broadly in line with existing programs. According to MSU’s admissions board, tuition fees at the university for the 2026 academic year range from 420,000 to 760,000 rubles ($5,500-$10,000) per year.

Speaking to RBC Radio on Tuesday, MSU dean Ivan Oseledets said the exact tuition fee for the AI faculty had not yet been finalized, but emphasized that the university follows a unified educational standard. As a result, he said, fees would not differ significantly from those charged by other faculties with a similar academic focus.

MSU announced the creation of the faculty in September, with the goal of uniting into a single system all of the university’s AI research programs and its MGU-270 super computer designed to develop AI and carry out research based on the use of the technology.

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A total of 36 bachelor’s and 36 master’s degree spots will be opened at the AI faculty from September 1, the dean said.

“We want to train researchers in the first place… Our goal is to prepare future scientific leaders, an elite who will then be able to create small scientific groups around themselves, and then larger scientific groups,” Oseledets explained.

In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that compared to the space program that “significantly changed the world” in the second half of the 20th century, “artificial intelligence is a much more groundbreaking, all-encompassing, and, as they say, end-to-end technology.”

The incorporation of AI into production processes will create new jobs “that require the ability to set goals and work with data, possess an engineering mindset, and assume responsibility,” the president said.

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Earlier this month, Putin instructed the government to prepare a comprehensive plan for the development of AI in Russia within the next six months. Under the supervision of a special presidential commission, AI will be introduced in various sectors of the economy as well as in federal and local government agencies.