“Social navigator” project and “Typical entrant” portal for the first time have published a research based on the students’ feedback and commentaries about their universities. Students’ opinion has become a kind of a university’s expert judgment and one of the most important factors which influence university’s image and reputation in the information environment.

The feedback had three stages of control. At first, the evaluation of the essay size, its informative value and adequacy were taken into consideration. The selected essays were published on the “Typical entrant” portal with an attached voting “Believe-don’t believe”. If more than 30 % of readers went for “don’t believe”, the commentaries were analyzed, and only then the decision about their publishing was made.

All in all, 1000 reviews have been sent, a half of which hasn’t passed, and 500 censored ones were left. The rating was based on these commentaries.

The research names top leaders and anti-leaders of Russian higher education. The Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Kutafin Moscow State Law University, National Research Nuclear University “MEPhI”, Moscow State Linguistic University, Saint Petersburg State University, The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation are considered the best according to the students’ positive feedback.

In students’ opinion, positive factors comprise interested teachers, the complexity of studying, good upkeep and infrastructure of buildings, absence of corruption, university atmosphere, notable graduates, university positions in the ratings and others. Anti-leaders have negative students’ feedback among which teacher’s old age, unjustified expectations, the easiness of studying, absence of student campus life, scattering of buildings and absence of dormitories, presence of corruption and bad repair works in the buildings can be mentioned.

Only the most popular universities, not including their branches, for-profit universities and small institutions have taken part in the research. The project supervisor Alexander Belyi commented on this: “On the basis of subjective opinions of the students’ majority an objective picture of the Russian higher education is created”.