Evaluation of competitiveness of university with remote education: Methodological recommendations and Russian experience

Purpose: The working hypothesis of this research is that specifics of activities of university that provides remote education does not allow using the same evaluation criteria for assessment of its competitiveness that allow assessing competitiveness of university that provides traditional education. The purpose of this paper is to verify the offered hypothesis, study the modern Russian experience of evaluating the competitiveness of university that provides remote education and develop methodological recommendations for improving this process. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use the existing scientific approaches to determining competitiveness of a company, including university, for complex and comprehensive study of the set problem. The information and analytical basis of this research is formed of methodological materials of the ranking of best universities of Russia for 2017 according to independent analytical agency “RaExpert” and “Announcement of open competition for state support for leading universities of the Russian Federation for the purpose of raising their competitiveness among the leading global scientific and educational centers of the Ministry of Education and Science of the RF.” Findings: The offered hypothesis was proved. It is concluded that modern Russia uses the same (common) criteria for evaluating competitiveness of universities, regardless of the form of provided educational services. This is incorrect from the scientific and methodological point of view, as the work shows that most criteria are characterized by different applicability as to the university that provides traditional education and the university that provides remote education. Originality/value: Methodological provision of evaluating the university’s competitiveness that provides remote education is elaborated by the authors by development of additional criteria. It is recommended to assign weight coefficients to all criteria depending on the level of applicability (importance) as to the university that provides remote education. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited.