Up till now, vocational and secondary schools are mainly state-owned, although it is possible to open private ones. Both Estonians and Russians have an equal opportunity to study at institutions of higher education. The entrance examination system is the same for everyone. No noticeable ethnic differences can be observed in the results of entrance examinations. A little more than half of all applicants were admitted into higher educational establishments.
Instruction is possible in either language.
The partially implemented plans to reform higher education are based on the assumption that the students' language proficiency enables them to choose classes and carry out practical assignments dictated by their needs, not their mother tongue. The number of visiting professors in Estonian higher education is increasing and in addition to Estonian and Russian, one can attend classes, for example, in German or English. The problem of the students' different mother tongue in Estonia is gradually reduced to the question of the language in which a class is conducted. It must also be pointed out that Russians and other Russian-speaking ethnic groups have considerably more choices for higher education than Estonians as they can study in their mother tongue in higher educational establishments all over Russia, as well as in other CIS countries. Nevertheless, several new, primarily Russian-language institutions have opened recently in Estonia.