Polina's answer describes the realities of the Russian bureaucracy to a greater extent than the historically established rules for assigning names to scientific organizations. It's simple.
Institute (lat. institutum- establishment, custom, institution) - any organization engaged in any activity. The President of Russia is an institution. The press is an institution. State Astronomical Institute named after Sternberg (scientific organization) is also an institute. And even the Moscow Aviation Institute (educational organization) is a real institute. Almost all educational institutions in Russia are subordinate to the Ministry of Education and Science and are directly controlled by it.
University (lat. universitas- aggregate, community) - a complex that unites philosophers, scientists of various specialties and their students. Universities are usually independent and self-governing, often closed to police and government officials. Often, universities that are not located in large cities become “city-forming enterprises”. In the city of Heidelberg, in which I now live, there are 30 thousand university students per 150 thousand population. Usually, it is universities that confer doctoral degrees (in Russia, until recently, this was done by a special body of the Ministry of Education and Science), while institutes can be the bases for the direct work of scientists, for example, a university graduate student is also an employee of the institute.
Therefore, students of real, historically established universities often do not like to be asked how things are at the "institute". A university is more than an institution. But the bureaucratic nature of Russian education and its accountability to the Ministry of Education instead of university independence deprives universities of the status that universities usually have in other countries. For example, Academician Sadovnichy, in order to be the rector of the university for a longer time, sold the independence of the university to Putin - now the president appoints the rector of Moscow State University, not the academic council.
Academy (from the Greek. Ἀκαδήμεια) - a scientific community, a club. Usually associated with a group of scientific institutions, the best scientists of which are accepted into the academy and receive the corresponding academician status from other academicians. Academies often publish scientific journals and can be an expert community. Some academies also conduct educational activities. In this case, the academy, in principle, can be founded by anyone, but such academics will be ridiculed (see RANS). Until recently, the Russian Academy of Sciences directly controlled most of the scientific organizations in Russia, but after the 2013 reform it lost this opportunity, and the institutes began to be managed by officials of the Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations.
The promotion of the benefits of higher education has led to the fact that 90% of graduates after leaving school go to universities. The illusion of guaranteed success in life after graduation makes teenagers intensely gnaw the granite of science. Everyone chooses an educational institution according to their liking or according to their capabilities, most often material ones. At the moment, there are three types of educational institutions: university, academy and institute. It is difficult to figure out at once what are the differences between them, since they all perform one main function.
What are the features of the university?
The university is the most prestigious educational institution in the hierarchical ladder. The status of "university" can only be earned by the largest institution of higher professional education. Under its roof, the university unites a huge number of different areas and specialties. University education is highly regarded by employers.
A large number of faculties can be united under the vaults of universities. They are also often called "institutions" (for example, "Institute of Applied Mathematics"). By type, universities are subdivided into federal, regional, national; public and private. 
Universities of a special status are also distinguished in Russia: and MSU.
On the basis of universities, immediately after receiving a diploma, graduates have the opportunity to engage in research activities without receiving additional education (magistracy). Also, universities differ in the percentage of the teaching staff: more than 60 percent of teachers must have academic degrees not lower than a candidate of sciences.
As a rule, a university is a network of buildings within one geographic object (city), one of which is central (main). For the rest, the faculties are distributed so that it is more convenient for students to attend classes without changing premises during the day. The number of students at universities ranges from several thousand to tens of thousands, depending on the size of the university (taking into account the training of part-time students).
As an example, consider Volga Federal University... In 2012, about 37 thousand students studied there. K (P) FU has a large number of buildings located geographically mainly in the center of Kazan, and also has several branches in other cities of Tatarstan.
What is an academy?
The Academy is a higher educational institution that trains specialists mainly in one direction of science. In terms of the number of students, academies are noticeably inferior to universities, since they usually graduate up to several thousand specialists a year. This is connected, of course, with the narrow focus of training. Academies can also engage in retraining of specialists, advanced training of specialists. For graduates of academies, no additional education is required to pursue scientific activities Within the framework of the academy, scientific work is necessarily carried out. 
Requirements for the teaching staff - at least 40% of employees must have academic degrees. For example, the Russian Academy of Justice (now the Russian State University of Justice) trained specialists in the judicial system with a degree in jurisprudence. In 2014, the Kazan branch of the Academy graduated about 2 thousand graduates.
As a rule, academies can have branches in other cities, while, due to the small number of students, they are located in the same building.
What is an Institute?
An institute is an educational institution of higher professional education that prepares specialists for a particular specialty. Requirements for the teaching staff are minimal. Graduates of institutes do not have the right to engage in scientific activities without receiving additional education. Scientific activities are not carried out on the basis of institutes. As a rule, institutes are deprived of the opportunity to retrain specialists and improve their qualifications.
An example is Kazan Law Institute... It annually prepares specialists in the specialty of jurisprudence, while it is aimed at training personnel specifically for the internal affairs bodies. Training is also provided for existing employees of the internal affairs bodies. 
What is the difference between a university and an academy and an institute
- Scope: the university is the largest educational institution in comparison with the institute and the academy
- Graduates of universities and academies have the right to engage in scientific activities, institutes do not.
- As a general rule, research activities are carried out within the framework of universities and academies, but not within the framework of institutes.
- Universities have the highest requirements for teaching staff.
- The university is universal, a very part of the university contains a huge number of faculties and specialties. In academies there is usually only one faculty, in institutes - one specialty.
- Universities, to a large extent, due to the large number of students, include several buildings; institutes and academies are most often located in one building.
- Universities have the largest number of students. Academies and institutes are inferior in scale to the number of graduates.
Many applicants are wondering about the differences between the institute and the university. The whole difference can be found in the law on higher education. In our country there are a lot of institutes that later became universities. Why? This is what we will discuss in this article.
In general, universities that have changed their status remain the same as before the change. But some changes are still present.
What is university and institute
A university is a university that trains employees in a number of disciplines, laying the foundation of scientific knowledge. The term university appeared in the distant twelfth century, and the institute is a fairly young concept.
The Institute prepares students for a basic program that corresponds to higher education.
Thus, from the two definitions, we can conclude that the institute trains highly specialized personnel, and the university trains specialists of a wide profile. In both cases, a person who graduated from a particular university becomes the owner of a higher education.
In practice, this distinction is rather arbitrary. Your potential employer is unlikely to notice such a nuance in your resume.
Today promises a good opportunity for people with different skills to get a job. It often happens when one specialty is not enough, and it is simply unrealistic to find a good job.
Both types of universities prepare both bachelors and masters. Samples of diplomas are practically the same.
What features can be found at the institute
The Institute invites you to study purely in one field of activity with higher education. The principal is at the forefront, and the staff has approximately 30-35 teachers and several graduate students per 100 full-time students. These conditions are adhered to by young educational institutions with a work experience of up to 5 years.
If the university is older, then the staff immediately increases many times over. Funding for the institute for 5 years ranges from 1.5 to 5 million rubles. Thanks to such a cash flow, it is quite possible to update the technical base and attract various eminent personalities to cooperation.
For the institute to work and develop well, there is one condition - the qualifications of teachers. 55% of teachers are required to have an academic degree.
The scope of the university:
- Training of personnel in a narrow specialty.
- Conducting scientific research on an ongoing basis.
- Training and professional development of teachers.
Upon completion of your studies, you can earn a bachelor's degree and then a master's. As for studying for a junior specialist, the institute does not offer this opportunity. As a result, an institute is a higher education institution that has a low social status in comparison with the same university or academy.
Features of universities and training in such universities
The university has the highest status among educational institutions. In such institutions, the training of the first higher and second education is carried out in all sorts of areas of training.
It does not matter what the name of the university is - in any educational institution with the status of "university" you can get a diploma of a metallurgist, auto mechanic or computer security specialist, as well as actually find many other specialties.
In addition to an extensive list of areas, the university constantly retrains and improves the qualifications of the teaching staff. As for research and science, in this type of university, constant work is carried out in each area studied.
At the university, you can constantly observe progress towards new discoveries and unique developments. In addition to the usual teaching of students, the teaching staff tries to make a solid contribution to the scientific future.
Here are the main areas in which any university operates:
- Active research work in a number of areas.
- Personnel training, as well as their retraining.
- Continuous improvement of the training program in all kinds of specialties.
As a result, the university is a kind of scientific institution that works on new developments and discoveries. Often there are universities that combine several institutions. Such associations can contribute to the fact that the branches become one single university.
What is described in the legislation
Having looked at the description of the work of the institute and the university, we can conclude that the first type of institution, subject to a number of rules, is capable of retraining into another. Thus, the university, which has become a university, immediately increases its accreditation.
Law 125-FZ "On Higher and Postgraduate Professional Education" provides a number of conditions that determine the status of each university.
What are the evaluation criteria:
- The institution must have 4 graduate students per 100 full-time students.
- 60% of the professors must have scientific degrees (titles).
- Conduct research in 5 or more industries.
- The level of funding for the five-year period is at least 10,000,000 rubles.
- In training, innovative methodologies must be applied. For example, an electronic library and so on.
The presence of all this in the university is a good help for increasing accreditation.
Radical differences between institute and university
We invite you to familiarize yourself with an exhaustive list of differences between the two types of universities:
- The university offers a multidisciplinary study, and the institute - a narrow-profile one.
- The university is a complex unit in the field of education, the institute is rather a component.
- The institute works in one industry, the "university" has the ability to teach various specialties.
- The university conducts training and advanced training of personnel, which is not available at the institute.
Where better to do
After reading the article, you will probably want to go to university, and this will be partly the right decision. Upon graduation, you will become a broad-based specialist.
Every year, thousands of applicants face the most important choice in their lives - the choice of a profession. Many universities offer their services in the same specialties. But which one to prefer: university or institute? Where will it be more interesting to study? Which educational institution will provide an opportunity to obtain deeper and more practical knowledge? Finding the answer to this question is just as important as not making a mistake with the choice of future activities.
The first universities arose in the 12th century and were a community of professors and students. In our time, the university is the name of such higher educational institutions that train specialists in the disciplines that are the basis of scientific knowledge.
Institute- the institution is quite young. Implements the preparation of students for programs for higher education.
Activity profile
The word "university" is translated from Latin as "totality". And in fact, the preparation at the university is conducted in various fields. In addition to the fact that under the roof of the university curricula in various fields of knowledge are combined, the student studies, in addition to special subjects, general developmental ones.
For an educational institution to receive the status of an institute, it is enough to train specialists of one direction.
Research activities
Both at the institute and at the university, an obligatory component of the educational process is scientific work. However, the direction of research work can be chosen by the institute, while the university must conduct both basic research and applied research. Moreover, research work should cover a wide range of sciences.
Postgraduate education
If the institute is not prohibited from carrying out postgraduate education activities, then the university is obliged to provide such a service. However, the institute can only improve the qualifications of practitioners, while the university prepares scientific, pedagogical and scientific personnel.
Staffing and training facilities
In order for the institute to receive the status of a university, it is necessary not only to develop the educational base, but also to have a significant number of scientific workers, a large library in all proposed scientific areas, and the technical provision of the educational process.
Conclusions site
- An institute is an integral educational unit, and a university can include several institutes.
- The institute prepares specialists in only one direction, education at the university is diversified.
- The scientific activity of the university should be diverse and develop in several directions.
- Unlike an institute, a university is obliged to carry out retraining and advanced training programs.
Every year, thousands of applicants face the most important choice in their lives - the choice of a profession. Many universities offer their services in the same specialties. But which one to prefer: university or institute? Where will it be more interesting to study? Which educational institution will provide an opportunity to obtain deeper and more practical knowledge? Finding the answer to this question is just as important as not making a mistake with the choice of future activities.
The first universities arose in the 12th century and were a community of professors and students. In our time, the university is the name of such higher educational institutions that train specialists in the disciplines that are the basis of scientific knowledge.
Institute- the institution is quite young. Implements the preparation of students for programs for higher education.
The word "university" is translated from Latin as "totality". And in fact, the preparation at the university is conducted in various fields. In addition to the fact that under the roof of the university curricula in various fields of knowledge are combined, the student studies, in addition to special subjects, general developmental ones.
For an educational institution to receive the status of an institute, it is enough to train specialists of one direction.
Research activities
Both at the institute and at the university, an obligatory component of the educational process is scientific work. However, the direction of research work can be chosen by the institute, while the university must conduct both basic research and applied research. Moreover, research work should cover a wide range of sciences.
Postgraduate education
If the institute is not prohibited from carrying out postgraduate education activities, then the university is obliged to provide such a service. However, the institute can only improve the qualifications of practitioners, while the university prepares scientific, pedagogical and scientific personnel.
Staffing and training facilities
In order for the institute to receive the status of a university, it is necessary not only to develop the educational base, but also to have a significant number of scientific workers, a large library in all proposed scientific areas, and the technical provision of the educational process.
TheDifference.ru determined that the difference between a university and an institute is as follows:
An institute is an integral educational unit, and a university can include several institutes.
The institute prepares specialists in only one direction, education at the university is diversified.
The scientific activity of the university should be diverse and develop in several directions.
Unlike an institute, a university is obliged to implement retraining and advanced training programs.