On June 28, 2018, Forbes has published the first rating of Russian universities, assessing them by 10 parameters, divided into three groups: the quality of education, the quality of graduates and the Forbes factor.

According to Forbes, MEPhI took the 3rd place among all Russian universities in terms of quality of education and entered into the TOP 10 of the overall rating (the first and second place was taken by the New Economic School and the Russian Academy of national economy and public administration under the President of the Russian Federation).

Grading educational institutions, the compilers not only took into account the quality of education, research, international and financial activities, but also evaluated the career prospects of students. Among the criteria that formed the basis of calculations is the average salary of graduates, the presence of billionaires and their heirs, successful officials, members of the Boards of Directors of the largest Russian and international companies. Students of leading universities get excellent professional skills as well as a network of useful acquaintances, and demonstrate the importance of networking for building a successful career.

The research is based on the monitoring the effectiveness of more than 600 institutions of higher education, prepared by the Ministry of education. The rating methodology takes into account not only the quality of education, but also statistical data on the employment of graduates, their demand in the regions, the number of entrepreneurs among them. Also, Forbes studied the biographies of more than 1600 representatives of the Russian elite - participants of the Forbes list and their children, heads of private and state companies, officials and deputies.