The socio-economic problems emerged after the collapse of the Soviet Union coupled with the Arab countries impact led to the uprise and spread of radical groups based on Islam in Russia. Non-traditional for the regions Islamic movements provoking extremist and terrorist activities have also appeared in Dagestan and Bashkortostan,. The existence of the threat to the national security and territorial integrity of the country prompted the authorities to develop and implement federal and regional programs to counter extremism and terrorism. One of the areas of counteraction is the prevention of extremism through the educational environment. In the article the author examines the activities of higher educational institutions of Dagestan and Bashkortostan in the field of countering extremism: the main directions of their work are highlighted, the activities being implemented are described, cooperation lines of universities with representatives of government authorities, law enforcement agencies and other involved persons are identified. Based on open sources, we can say that the universities of the two regions carry out serious work in the field of countering extremism, however, in Dagestan, unlike Bashkortostan and other regions, the extremist and terrorist threats remains at a critical level, which leads to the conclusion that the program of countering extremism can be implemented formally and / or is underfunded. In addition, the low level of socio-economic development has a determining influence in the region.
