Will bribery and fraud converge? Comparative corruption in higher education in Russia and the USA

This study analyses the issue of comparative corruption in the national higher education sectors in the United States and the Russian Federation. In both nations, higher education is a major part of public policy and constitutes a significant part of the public sector. Corruption in higher education, and the way it is addressed in the legislation, court cases, and reflected in the media, appears to be consistent with trajectory and pace of reforms that take place in the higher education industry in the US and the RF. The reduction of governmentally funded places in the RF and the growing significance of private educational loans in the US lead to an increase in corruption in the area of access to higher education. The continuing massification of higher education with increasing enrollment rates in these two countries, as well as the emergence of the for-profit sector, necessitate more control and coordination on the part of the government, educational institutions, and the public. Growing public concerns over the quality of educational services lead to an increase in reporting bribery, fraud, cheating, plagiarism, diploma mills, breach of contract, and other forms of misconduct. A better understanding of corruption in the national higher education is needed in order to design effective anti-corruption strategies.