During the past thirty years there has been a worldwide shift toward neoliberal views of the role of national governments that has resulted in further globalization, privatization, and marketization of many formerly government provided services and activities. The effects of this global shift have been particularly felt in the areas of education and health care. In the area of tertiary education there has been a global push toward privatization, cost sharing, and market mechanisms to provide education at lower costs. Advocates of these approaches have used the mantle of privatization to increase the number of seats for postsecondary participants without increasing public outlays by encouraging the development of private educational institutions and by implementing or increasing tuition schemes and other fee-for-service initiatives. However, achieving success to and equity in tertiary education in large countries and complex societies is more complicated than many of the proponents of privatization efforts suggest. In this paper, the authors first use existing research on factors that influence postsecondary participation and access to present a model for assessing the likely effects of privatization schemes across nation-states. Using this model, they then examine the status of access and equity in Russia and discuss the likelihood of success of privatization efforts in Russia.