American Students in Russia: Research and Data Analysis of Exchange Programs

Abstract

The article focuses on the main trends in American students training in Russia from the 1960s to the present day. The paper considers the issues like changes in geography and curricula of American students, dynamics of their total number in Soviet and Russian higher education and their preferences of certain universities. The article also provides information on socio-demographic composition of American students in Russia, tuition fees and daily expenses. The authors discuss the level of training satisfaction as well as identify revenues American students bring in Russian economy. The paper relies on archival data of the USSR Ministry of Higher Education Institutions, current Russian and American statistics and the results of a pilot sociological study (N = 237) which the authors carried out in May 2015. The authors drew a conclusion about the decline in the US youth interest to studying in Russia. In this regard they propose a list of measures aimed at intensification and amplification of Russian-American exchange programs.