This study explores the issue of obtaining academic degrees in prerevolutionary Russia, a process that was an integral part of scientific initiation, allowing individuals to enter the ranks of the country’s intellectual elite. The aim of this paper is to determine the interplay between socio-political, corporate, and scientific elements in shaping the discourse of academic disputation. The analysis presented herein draws upon data primarily concerning Saint Petersburg University, which was a leading center for Russian scholarly activity. Specifically, this research utilizes unpublished materials from the minutes of the University Council meetings, journals of public assemblies of various faculties, and archives managed by the Saint Petersburg educational district, containing information on planned disputes. The authors conclude that there were eight formal obstacles a candidate had to overcome in the pursuit of a degree. The key hurdle was access to the public defense, which was a closed affair, being an internal corporate matter that excluded not only the degree candidate but also external authorities and society at large. The public defense of a thesis served more as a socially significant rite of corporate initiation, demonstrating the public importance of the corporation.