Samara State University provides postgraduate and doctoral education since 1974. At present SSU offers 49 postgraduate programmes and 9 doctoral programmes. Samara State University houses 9 dissertation councils where candidate and doctoral dissertations are defended.
At present more than a hundred scientific supervisors tutor 360 enrolled and unenrolled postgraduate students. Annually Samara State University enrolls about 80 students for postgraduate study. SSU provides postgraduate and doctoral education on a budgetary (state-financed) and contractual basis.
Foreign applicants (including citizens of the Commonwealth of Independent States) are also admitted to doctoral and postgraduate education programs as well as unenrolled postgraduate and doctoral studies both on the basis of international contracts and agreements and on contractual basis.