Abstract: The object of research in this article is the new three-tier Russian education system that appeared in our country after its joining Bologna process. The matter of research is new generation’s competitiveness in labor market under crisis. Particular author’s attention is paid to comparing the former and the current higher education systems and to students’ motivation for continuing their studies in the period of obvious shortage of vacancies. The method of research in this article is comparative and cross-social analysis of the former and the present Russian higher education systems as well as empiric material gathered in interviewing students, entrants, their parents, colleagues and inductive generalization of it with following deductive conclusions. The principal author’s conclusions are the following statements. 1) Efficiency of an education system can be judged only by the demand on graduates in labor market. 2) New Russian education system has advantages, though there is a serious issue of its being unclear for laymen. It concerns the status of its programmes and diplomas received after their completion. 3) Students’ motivation for continuing studies primarily depends on financial and career profit brought to them by a diploma. However under shortage of vacancies a desire to store up diplomas “just in case” may emerge. 4) Demand on an educational programme under market depends on how competitive the potential diploma is, on the other hand, vice versa, competitiveness of diploma is determined by the number of people who have it. Time will show what is prior. The novelty of the article consists in its viewing pedagogical aspects of curricula from economical point of view namely in the aspect of competitiveness of graduates nowadays.

Abstract: The object of research in this article is the assessment of students at higher school. The matter under study is tge criteria and difficulties of assessing bachelors in non-professional disciplines. Particular author’s attention is paid to specificity of non-professional disciplines as a constituent part of educational bachelor’s programmes and to analysis of assessing students in present practice. Assessment in exact sciences and Humanities and foreign language are analyzed separately. Assessing students is also presented in the context of their motivation for learning and orientation to professional activity. The method of research in the article is the analysis of current practice of assessing students including the author’s own experience. The main author’s conclusions in this article involve the following statements. 1) Peculiarities of assessing students depend on the specificity of a discipline. 2) Even though they do not directly form professional knowledge and skills, non-professional disciplines are still an important constituent part of bachelor’s curriculum in terms of the competence approach. 3) Nowadays school grades do not often reflect their actual knowledge and intellectual level and are a formality. The novelty of this article is in presenting problems of assessment at higher school on the basis of classification of disciplines and through the prism of students’ motivation for studies and their orientation at their future professional activity.