What is more prestigious: university, academy or institute? What is the difference between an institute and a university and where is it better to go?

Every year, thousands of applicants face the most important choice in their lives - choosing a profession. Many universities offer their services in the same specialties. But what to prefer: university or institute? Where will it be more interesting to study? Which educational institution will provide the opportunity to obtain deeper and more practical knowledge? Finding the answer to this question is just as important as not making a mistake with the choice of future activity.

First universities arose back in the 12th century and were a community of professors and students. Nowadays, a university is a name given to higher education institutions that train specialists in disciplines that are the basis of scientific knowledge.

Institute– the establishment is quite young. Implements training of students in programs for higher education.

Activity profile

The word "university" is translated from Latin as "totality." And in fact, training at the university is carried out in various profiles. In addition to the fact that educational programs in a variety of fields of knowledge are combined under the roof of the university, students study, in addition to special subjects, general developmental ones.

In order for an educational institution to receive the status of an institute, it is enough to train specialists in one field.

Research activities

Both at the institute and at the university, scientific work is a mandatory component of the educational process. However, the direction of research work can be chosen by the institute, while the university must conduct both fundamental and applied research. Moreover, research work should cover wide range Sci.

Postgraduate education

If the institute is not prohibited from carrying out postgraduate education activities, then the university is obliged to provide such a service. However, the institute can only engage in advanced training for practitioners, while the university trains scientific, pedagogical and scientific personnel.

Provision of personnel and training facilities

In order for an institute to obtain university status, it is necessary not only to develop the educational base, but also to have a significant number of researchers on staff, a large library in all proposed scientific areas, and technical support for the educational process.

Conclusions website

1. An institute is an integral educational unit, and a university can include several institutes.
2. The institute trains specialists in only one field; education at the university is multidisciplinary.
3. The scientific activities of the university should be diverse and develop in several directions.
4. Unlike an institute, a university is obliged to implement retraining and advanced training programs.

There are several types of institutions in the education system. Not everyone understands the difference between them. For example, those planning to undergo training in any profession are often interested in how a university differs from a university. Let's try to figure this out.

Definition

University- this name hides the combination “higher educational institution”.

University- one of the institutions for higher education.

Comparison

Thus, the difference between a university and a university is that the first concept is a general one, denoting a certain category of institutions, and the second implies a particular case. To explore the issue more deeply, let’s take a closer look at what is called a university.

Here we mean any institution that annually graduates specialists with higher education. Training takes place on a public or private basis. In any case, the university must have an officially confirmed right to provide knowledge in professions and award diplomas upon completion of a full four to six year course.

When planning to enroll in such an institution, you should decide on a convenient form of study. Someone has the opportunity to master new material by visiting the institution every day. For others, evening or distance learning is a suitable option. In addition, it is no longer uncommon for classes to be conducted in a more free, distanced form.

Large universities organize their branches in different localities. This increases the accessibility of training. The institutions under discussion have departments and faculties in their structure, as well as preparatory departments for applicants. As a rule, the university has an extensive library. They often publish their own newspaper. The main manager of a higher educational organization is the rector.

The university is a multidisciplinary university with an extensive list of educational programs and conducting research activities. Federal-level facilities are recognized as leading here. Considering the difference between a university and a university, for comparison we should also name other types of institutions providing higher education.

So, a little lower in rank is the institute. It is smaller in scale than a university. In addition, academies occupy their place among the educational organizations under consideration. Each of them is focused on one particular area of ​​activity: economics, art, agriculture or others.

Promoting the benefits of higher education has led to the fact that 90% of graduates enter universities after graduation. The illusion of guaranteed success in life after receiving a diploma forces teenagers to gnaw hard on the granite of science. Everyone chooses an educational institution according to their liking or according to their capabilities, most often financial. At the moment, three types of educational institutions can be distinguished: university, academy and institute. It is difficult to immediately understand what the differences between them are, since they all perform the same basic function.

What are the features of the university?

The university is the most prestigious educational institution in the hierarchical ladder. Only the largest institution of higher professional education can earn the status of “university”. Under its roof, the university unites a huge number of different areas and specialties. University education is highly valued by employers.

A large number of faculties can be united under the arches of universities. They are also often called “institutes” (for example, “Institute of Applied Mathematics”). By type, universities are divided into federal, regional, national; public and private.

Universities of special status are also distinguished in Russia: and Moscow State University.

At universities, immediately after receiving a diploma, graduates have the opportunity to engage in research activities without receiving additional education (master's degree). Universities also differ in the percentage of teaching staff: more than 60 percent of teachers must have academic degrees of at least a candidate of sciences.

As a rule, a university is a network of buildings within one geographical entity (city), one of which is central (main). The remaining faculties are distributed so that it is more convenient for students to attend classes without changing rooms during the day. The number of students at universities ranges from several thousand to tens of thousands, depending on the size of the university (taking into account the education of part-time students).

As an example we can consider Privolzhsky Federal University. In 2012, about 37 thousand students studied there. K(P)FU has a large number of buildings located geographically mainly in the center of the city of Kazan, and also has several branches in other cities of Tatarstan.

What is an academy?

The Academy is a higher education institution that trains specialists primarily in one area of ​​science. Academies are noticeably inferior to universities in terms of the number of students, as they usually graduate up to several thousand specialists per year. This is, of course, due to the narrow focus of training. Academies can also engage in retraining of specialists and advanced training of specialists. Graduates of academies do not need to obtain additional education to engage in scientific activities. Scientific work is always carried out within the academy.

Requirements for the teaching staff - at least 40% of employees must have academic degrees. For example, the Russian Academy of Justice (now the Russian State University of Justice) trained specialists in the judicial system with a specialty in jurisprudence. In 2014, the Kazan branch of the academy graduated about 2 thousand graduates.

As a rule, academies may have branches in other cities, but due to the small number of students, they are located in one building.

What is an institute?

An institute is an educational institution of higher professional education that trains specialists in a specific specialty. Requirements for teaching staff are minimal. Graduates of institutes do not have the right to engage in scientific activities without receiving additional education. Scientific activities are not conducted at the institutes. As a rule, institutes are deprived of the opportunity to retrain specialists and improve their qualifications.

An example can be given Kazan Law Institute. It annually trains specialists in the specialty of jurisprudence, while it is aimed at training personnel specifically for internal affairs bodies. Training of existing employees of internal affairs bodies is also carried out.

What are the differences between a university and an academy and an institute?

1. Scale: the university is the largest educational institution compared to the institute and academy
2. Graduates of universities and academies have the right to engage in scientific activities, but graduates of institutes do not.
3. As a general rule, scientific activity is carried out within universities and academies, but not within institutes.
4. Universities have the highest demands on their teaching staff.
5. The university is universal; the university contains a huge number of faculties and specialties. Academies usually have only one faculty, while institutes have one specialty.
6. Universities, to a greater extent, due to the large number of students, include several buildings; institutes and academies are most often located in one building.
7. Universities have the largest number of students. Academies and institutes are inferior in terms of the number of graduates.

The Russian higher education system includes several thousand educational institutions, each of which is called a university, institute or academy. Each of these titles has its own differences, including the level of the teaching staff, the number of graduate students studying, structure and other features.

History of the division of higher education institutions into institutes and universities

The first higher educational institutions of the Russian Empire had a clear division into classical and applied ones. Classical universities were called exclusively universities (Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kharkov Imperial Universities) and provided students with knowledge in the fields of literature, linguistics, history, mathematics and chemistry. Unlike classical universities, applied educational institutions were called institutes (St. Petersburg and Novocherkassk Polytechnic Institutes) or higher schools (Moscow Imperial Higher School). Institute students studied natural and engineering sciences, medicine and law.

In the Soviet Union, university titles were retained by several of the largest universities (Lomonosov Moscow State University, St. Petersburg State University). The remaining existing and newly opened educational institutions were called institutes and provided applied higher education.

Teaching staff

To obtain university status, at least 60% of its teaching staff must have an academic degree. Thus, university students have the opportunity to gain knowledge from practicing scientists who have certain achievements in their field of competence.

Differences in structure

The institute can be either a separate educational institution or be part of a larger university as a structural unit, uniting several faculties whose departments train students in one direction (Engineering and Economics Institute as part of the Kazan Scientific Research Technical University). Universities may not have separate institutes and are divided exclusively into faculties.

Postgraduate training

At a university, for every 100 full-time students there should be at least 4 graduate students, while it is enough to prepare only two out of a hundred people to defend their PhD thesis. In addition, the topics of dissertations of applicants studying at universities involve conducting fundamental scientific research, while dissertations defended at institutes are predominantly of an applied nature.

Trends in the development of higher education institutions

The current state of higher education in Russia is characterized by a transition from a large number of small higher educational institutions to the formation of large educational and research centers that accumulate around themselves the scientific potential of an industry or region. Over the past decade, the number of institutes in the country has decreased significantly, as some of them were abolished, and some became part of larger universities. Consolidation according to the regional principle consists of uniting several universities into Federal Universities (Southern, Far Eastern), and the sectoral principle provides for the creation of National Research Universities on the basis of the country's leading technical universities.

In Russia there is a federal law, after reading which it becomes clear how an institute differs from a university. And despite this, few people understand the difference between the main types

It is not worthwhile without a clear understanding of these differences, because later, when the former student begins to look for a job, he may regret that he did not take his choice seriously.

Why is it so important to ask in time what is the difference between an institute and a university? Yes, in order to know exactly what future awaits you, what positions you can take after graduation, what organizations to work for and what salary to apply for.

When to choose an institute

If you are 100% confident in your choice of faculty, consider your chosen specialty to be the only one suitable for yourself, and know for sure that after 5 years you will not change your mind (after all, this is your calling), you can safely enter the institute. But even with such confidence, there is no guarantee that the situation in the country will not change and you will not have to work somewhere else and not exactly in your specialty. To ensure that this job is not classified as a blue-collar position, you should always give preference to the university.

What does a university diploma provide?

First of all, it gives you a choice of place of work and even position. In the case of an institute, the choice is limited. For example, if you studied at the Faculty of Pedagogy, you become a teacher of a specific subject and will no longer be able to work in related positions. If you studied at the same faculty, but already at the university, you will be able to work not only as a teacher, but also to teach and be a specialist in the field in which you teach. For example, a psychologist, if the university diploma bears the inscription “Teacher. Psychologist". And having gained experience, you can become a methodologist. This way you will always have more variety to choose from. If you suddenly become disillusioned with one area of ​​activity, you can go to another. For example, change the position of “psychology teacher” to the position of psychologist in a private company. In addition, you can always change your field of activity within this specialty: quit consulting and become a trainer (a psychologist-trainer is highly valued in all large and serious private firms). The same can be applied to any other specialty obtained after graduating from university.

And now, for clarity, in order to fully understand how an institute differs from a university, let’s compare the salary of a specialist (in our example, a psychologist) in a private company and a teacher. Since the level of wages differs across Russia, let’s consider the average situation, namely job offers in the regional centers of the country - not Moscow and St. Petersburg, but such as Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Vladivostok, Perm, etc. A specialist psychologist in a private company can receive 40 thousand rubles, in a budget organization - a maximum of 12 thousand rubles.

Now you know how a university differs from an institute - the ability to adapt to the changing economic situation in the country. After all, teachers did not always have good salaries. And many university graduates, realizing that their standard of living left much to be desired, were able to change jobs to better paid and equally prestigious ones. Institute graduates were also able to do this, but with a significant difference. I had to give up a prestigious job in favor of a good salary.

When should you go to the academy?

Finding out the difference between a university and an institute does not mean fully understanding this issue, because in Russia there are also academies. Previously, they specialized in producing specialists in the scientific field. Now it is no different from university. These universities guarantee high quality education, obtaining a prestigious and “double” specialty. Isn't this what we all strive for? Get a “start” in life to be able to provide yourself and your family with everything you need, including social status.

Now that we have found out together how an institute differs from a university, everyone can draw certain conclusions for themselves.