Yelets
Yelets is home to 1 of RusStudy's partner state universities. University dorm housing starts at €30/month (or €100/month for a shared apartment), with estimated daily living costs of €140/month.
Yelets is one of the oldest towns in Russia, first recorded in the twelfth century. Set on the Bystraya Sosna in the Lipetsk region, it is a modest-sized historic town, known for its lace and its old merchant centre.
Universities
Cost of living
| University dormitory | 30 € / month |
|---|---|
| Shared apartment | 100 € / month |
| Monthly living costs (food, transport) | 140 € / month |
Indicative estimate based on 2025 university rates. The final quote depends on the chosen university.
Where Yelets is and how to get there
Yelets lies south of Moscow, in the black-earth belt. You get there via Moscow and then by train, a journey covered comfortably and often overnight.
It is a town you arrive in without getting lost: the station, the centre and the university buildings are short distances from one another.
A small historic town
The centre has kept its old fabric, with churches, merchant houses and streets built to a pedestrian scale. The writer Ivan Bunin spent part of his youth here, and the town keeps that literary memory alive.
It is a quiet setting, without the distractions of a metropolis. For a student who needs to concentrate, particularly during the preparatory language year, the environment works in your favour.
The lowest budget in the network
Yelets and Oryol are the two cheapest of the eight cities. The table above gives the exact figures: hall accommodation costs a fraction of the Moscow level, and living costs follow the same logic.
For a family funding the studies without a scholarship, that gap is not a comfort: it is sometimes the very condition of leaving at all.
Student life day to day
Everything is close, and that is the main practical advantage. You do not lose an hour a day to transport, and winter is easier to get through when the teaching buildings are minutes from your hall.
The counterpart is the offering: fewer shops, fewer outings, less choice. Weekends are built more around student life and trips to neighbouring cities.
What to know before choosing Yelets
The Maghrebi community is smaller here than in the big cities, and halal food takes more searching. Cooking for yourself becomes less a saving strategy than a natural habit.
Russian asserts itself quickly, because there is no fallback. It is demanding in the first months, and it is also why some students progress markedly faster here than in Moscow.
The partner university on site
Yelets is home to Bunin Yelets State University, named after the writer connected to the town. It is a human-scale public institution, where supervision is closer than in the large Moscow universities.
That teaching proximity is one of the most concrete arguments for the town, particularly during the preparatory language year, where individual follow-up makes a real difference.
Frequently asked questions
Is housing guaranteed for studying in Yelets?
Yes: RusStudy pre-books your room in secure university residences in Yelets before you arrive, monitored 24/7, or guides you toward a shared apartment depending on your budget.
Is there a Tunisian community in Yelets?
Yes: RusStudy has local contacts and an active Tunisian student community in each of its partner university cities, including Yelets, to help you settle in from day one.