Position of State-Funded Students in Kharkiv University in the 19th and early 20th centuries

Abstract

The article highlights the peculiarities of professional training and life of Kharkiv University students who had the right to study at state expense. In the conditions of the dominance of elitist education, accessible to a limited circle of young people due to its high cost and social and religious discrimination, in the first half of the 19th century. The institution of state-funded students allowed talented young people to get a higher education and realize themselves in the scientific or bureaucratic field. In the future, a number of scholarships from state institutions and private individuals were introduced to financially support talented student youth. The use of general scientific principles of historicism and objectivity and the application of analytical, descriptive, comparative-historical methods made it possible to comprehensively study the conditions of study and the level of training of students who studied at public expense at Kharkiv University during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The research is conducted on the basis of a wide source historical base (legislative acts of the Russian Empire, internal documentation of the university and memoirs of graduates of the institution). The paper attempts to analyze and systematize the source base on the issue of providing benefits to students of Kharkiv University.It has been proven that in order to attract talented young people to study at the university, the institution of state-financed students who were fully supported by the state is being introduced. However, the introduction of strict rules for privileged students, the administration’s complete control over their lives did not contribute to the popularization of the status of state-funded student among young people. From the second half of the 19th century the institute of state-funded students was liquidated, instead the tradition of awarding scholarships was introduced. It should be emphasized that thanks to the efforts of patrons, the number of monetary awards constantly increased and was one of the largest among the universities of the Russian Empire. Strict requirements for candidates for monetary rewards contributed to improving the level of self-training of students.