For the past 10 years it's just about having the money to pay for your exams. Education has gone downhill since the collapse of the SU. Russia doesn't need mathematicians or physicists anymore. My uncle is a professor and gets paid well under $1K a month. All that matters is what the price of oil is, and how much they can export while the old refineries still haven't fallen apart. Russia's income is purely from oil & gas now.