The Dynamics Of Investment In Pre-Entry Coaching And The Returns From Private Tutoring In Russia

This paper examines the patterns of pre-entry coaching and corresponding investment in private tutoring before and after the introduction of the Unified State Exam (the USE). We estimate the effectiveness of private tutoring in 2012 – a few years after the USE became a prerequisite for admission to university. Data from the Monitoring of Education Markets and Organizations show that the main types of pre-entry coaching are still in demand despite the unification of admission requirements. The popularity of paid courses at a particular university has declined, and the prevalence of classes with tutors who are not related to university has risen. A few years after the introduction of the USE, the level of investment in pre-entry coaching in real terms barely changed; however, the returns from such an investment (expressed in the USE scores) are positive but moderate