On August 19, 2009, the Government of the Russian Federation issued a resolution # 667 “On experiment in setting up applied baccalaureate program in undergraduate studies at secondary and higher vocational education institutions,” and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation announced the appropriate competition among federal educational institutions of secondary and higher vocational education. The Moscow Banking School (College) of the Bank of Russia became one of 50 winners to launch this experimental program. It was commissioned by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation that financed both – the four years of the program and provided the corresponding extra-curricular activities. The National Research University - Higher School of Economics (HSE) became a partner in this project. The experimental applied baccalaureate program in banking (as part of the economics cycle) was launched in 2010. The Bank sponsored the enrollment of 50 full-time students (20 male and 30 female). The entrance competition was 2.3 applicants per vacancy and the passing national exam score was 73 with a hundred maximum. Upon the end of the second year the number of students was reduced to 38 and did not change until the completion of the program. The geography of the project was diverse: students came from Moscow and other 31 regions of Russia.