Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation

Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation (FinU / FA or Financial University / Finance Academy; Russian: Финансовый университет при Правительстве Российской Федерации) is a highly prestigious public university located in Moscow, Russia.
It has been historically considered as one of elite institutions in the Soviet Union and in Russia, a "Billionaire Factory", as well as one of the oldest Russian universities preparing economists, financiers, philosophers, bankers and financial lawyers. Professor Anton Siluanov, the current Minister of Finance and former First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, serves as the Dean of the Financial University’s Finance Faculty, from which he graduated in 1985.
FinU had several bygone names:
Financial University consists of eight faculties, 52 departments, eight scientific institutes, four high schools, two research institutes, 13 centers, 18 training – science laboratories, a business incubator, and a network of 27 regional subsidiaries across Russia.
History of Financial University started in December 1918 when the People's Finance Commissar decided to create a specialized financial institution of higher education – the first in the history of Russia – Moscow Institute of Economics and Finance. It was opened on 2 March 1919, and its first rector was Dmitry Bogolepov [ru] – the Moscow State University graduate, the Deputy People's Finance Commissar of RSFSR. In September 1946, the institute was consolidated with Moscow Credit-Economic Institute training students since 1931. As a result of merger of these two institutions of higher education Moscow Finance Institute was formed, with Nikolai Rovinsky as its rector. It began with two thousand students and four faculties: Finance, Economic, Accounting, Credit, Monetary Economics, International Economic Relations. The Military Department opened later, in 1947.
In 1991, Moscow Finance Institute was renamed to "State Finance Academy" and in 1992 Russian President Boris Yeltsin changed its name to the "Finance Academy under the Government of Russian Federation" giving a governmental status to the institution. In 2009, the Finance Academy celebrated 90 years of its history.
On 14 July 2010, the Russian Government approved a new Charter for the institution changing its name from the "Finance Academy" into the "Finance University" and made it an official consultative body to the government.
On 4 March 2011, KPMG opened its own department at the university to enhance cooperation based on lectures and practical activities covering audit, International Financial Reporting Standards, taxation and corporate finance.
In 2011–2012 Financial University finished acquisition of three higher education institutions in Russia: State University of the Russian Ministry of Finance, Tax Academy of the Russian Federation, All-Russian Distance Institute of Finance [ru].
The system of higher education established at Finance University includes:
Admission requirements are among the highest in Russia. In 2024 Finance University received 53 applications per one budget place. According to the latest admission statistics, successful applicant of the year 2024 required to have on average 94 points of the Unified State Examination score in each subject in order to enter the course.
Finance University carries out research activities. These include both fundamental and applied research in the areas of finance, money circulation and credit, insurance, accounting and audit, business evaluation, international monetary relations; research done for post doctoral and PhD dissertations; development of expert-and-analytical materials requested by the bodies of legislative and executive power; organisation of scientific events (conferences, seminars, "roundtables", etc.).
The University was ranked among top 951-1000 globally in 2024 in the QS World University Rankings and top 151-200 in Economics and Econometrics (the main area of specialisation).
Despite not being highly ranked in international university rankings, the Financial University has gained recognition as one of Russia’s leading institutions. Notably, the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge, based on internal admission data collected over several years, included the Finance Academy (now the Financial University) among the 11 most prestigious universities in Russia whose degrees were given preferential consideration for admission. This list was later expanded to 17 universities, incorporating institutions such as the Higher School of Economics (HSE) and Saint Petersburg State University (SPbU).
At the time, graduate degrees from the Financial University were assessed as being academically comparable to those from leading National Taiwan universities, which were ranked between 68 and 198 in global rankings such as QS World University Rankings and Times Higher Education (THE).
Based on the average score of the Unified State Examination in 2024, the university was ranked number 8 overall out of 476 Russian institutions of higher education (with annual admission over 200 students) and number 3 among institutions specialising in social sciences. It also had the 5th highest number of national Olympiad winners and prizewinners admitted without exams (after HSE, ITMO, MIPT and MSU).
Integrated ranking of the Russian journal "Finance" put the Financial University as the best higher institution for economics and finance in 2010. The university became the competition winner "Golden Medal "European Quality" in the category of "100 Best Institutions of Higher Education in Russia". Furthermore, according to the ranking of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, the Finance University is placed third among top 100 Russia's institutions of higher education. The Financial University was also ranked among 32 best business schools in the world (1st in Russia and 16th in Europe) in 2013 by the "Ranking Web of World Business Schools".
The Financial University, and its predecessor the Moscow Finance Institute (MFI), holds a unique status among Russian universities. It has federal university status and is included among the privileged consultative bodies of the Russian government, alongside institutions such as MSU, HSE, RANEPA and SPbU.
During the Soviet era, the Financial University maintained a restricted admission policy, primarily serving the Soviet elite. Admission was largely limited to individuals with high-level connections within the Communist Party and government structures. Some of its faculties, particularly the International Economic Relations Faculty (MEO), were regarded as equivalent to the Economic Faculty of MGIMO. Graduates from these programs were frequently assigned to foreign offices of Soviet state institutions, including central banks and trade missions.
Western scholars have noted that, despite official state rhetoric denying elitism, Soviet higher education exhibited clear hierarchical stratification. Not all faculties of even prestigious institutions like MSU or SPbU were considered elite. While institutions such as Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), National Research Nuclear University (MEPhI), Bauman Moscow State Technical University (Baumanka), and the Mathematics and Physics faculties of MSU were among the most academically rigorous, they were not necessarily at the highest elite level in terms of social mobility and political access. Admission to these programs was exceptionally competitive, but even candidates (especially the Jewish ones) with outstanding academic records often faced insurmountable barriers without the right political or family background. In contrast, universities with strong ties to the nomenklatura, such as MGIMO, MFI, and select faculties of MSU, served as direct pipelines to influential government and financial positions.
According to a study by Kryshtanovskaya & White (From Soviet Nomenklatura to Russian Élite, Europe-Asia Studies, 1996), the Moscow Finance Institute was a key supplier of professionals to the financial and business sectors, alongside institutions such as MGIMO and the Law and Economics faculties of MSU.
In the post-Soviet era, the Financial University has maintained its prominent role in shaping Russia’s economic and financial elite. According to Forbes Russia, it ranks third among the universities producing the highest number of Russian billionaires, closely following MSU and MGIMO. It is also consistently ranked among the most influential universities for elite formation in Russia by RAEX rankings (with others being MSU, SpU, MGIMO and RANEPA).
Review of Business and Economics Studies (also known as RoBES) is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering economics and business. It was established in 2013. It is published by Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.
The Review of Business and Economics Studies aims to select topics in economics and business science that are of interest for decision-makers in business and government, and connect business and state authorities to academia by delivering deep insights. The Review of Business and Economics Studies defines its scope as covering significant developments in economics and business including macroeconomics, microeconomics, international economics, international finance, international trade, industrial organization, labour economics, political economy, monetary theory, fiscal policy and socioeconomics.
The journal is included in the Russian Science Citation Index – a component of the Scientific Electronic Library ru:eLIBRARY.RU. The journal is abstracted and indexed in: Google Scholar, Research Papers in Economics (RePEc), EconPapers – a service of Research Papers in Economics (RePEc), Scilit, ResearchGate, Scientific Electronic Library Cyberleninka, RoBES is included in the Directory of Open Access Journals. ISSN 2308-944X. eISSN 2587-7089.
All submissions undergo a double-blind peer review. The review is carried out by the editorial board members and external experts on behalf of the editorial board. All reviewers must be experts on the subject of the reviewed materials.
2023– present: Dr. Pavel S. Seleznev
2013-2022: Dr. Alexander I. Ilyinsky ru:Ильинский, Александр Иоильевич
According to Google Scholar, the following three papers have been cited most frequently:
Among the graduates are:
Before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent severance of academic cooperation with Russia by much of the international community, the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation had established numerous agreements with partner institutions in Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, China, the United States, the Czech Republic, and other countries.
According to its official website, the university claims to have over 160 international partners and membership in 12 international associations and university networks. However, the publicly available list of active partnerships is much smaller and includes:
Short-Term and Exchange Programmes:
Joint Educational Programmes:
Specialised Programmes in Finance, IT, and Risk Management:
Financial University is a member of the Russian Law Journal consortium.