As far as I know, your university uses the latest Western instructional methods. To what extent do you rely on the traditions of the Russian school of higher learning?

Ten years ago, when we set out to elaborate the concept of the university, we paid special at­tention to the «silver age» of Russian education – the early 20^th century. That was a time when the A.A. Shanyavsky University, the V.M. Bekhterev Institute, and the Bestuzhev Higher Cours­es maintained that the chief goal of higher edu­cation was to mold well-educated personalities with a wide mental grasp. And so Russian intel­lectuals strove to overcome the conventionalism and banality of the higher school, which had tra­ditionally aimed at training white-collar workers and functionaries.

Far from rejecting the achievements of Sovi­et pedagogics, we try to make maximum use of the positive experience of those years. But we do feel that we are inheritors of A.A. Shanyavsky’s traditions. That is why our curricula, es­pecially for the first and second years of study, include many disciplines that go to mold the in­tellectual of today.

What, in your view, is the fundamental dif­ference between state and nonstate higher education, except for tuition fees, of course?

Let me begin by pointing out that it is not en­tirely correct to divide institutions of higher learn­ing into state and nonstate ones. Many identify private with nonstate educational structures. The nonstate ones are successors to the Soviet-era institutes, on whose facilities they are based. As a rule, they do not differ much from their Soviet parents, except for their signboards. Whereas a private university or institute is established without state participation, and is independent from the state both financially and ideologically. We are free in our choice of lecturers and instruc­tional methods. Opening before us is a vast field for experimentation.

We at the university see education as a life­long process. Our job is to help the students to acquire knowledge and instill in them a desire for learning more about the world. Only then will our graduates rationally use their occupational skills, to which we pay a lot of attention of course; only then will these skills be useful to them and other people.

In what way is the Natalya Nesterova Uni­versity different from others?

The difference is fundamental. We offer our students a maximum choice of various possibili­ties. We are open to positive changes, whoever they may be initiated by – a student, or a post­graduate, or a professor. We try to create and pre­serve the unique atmosphere of freedom and that legendary spirit of brotherhood universities are supposed to possess. We don’t have entrance examinations. Instead, we have an interview with the entrant during which we determine the level of his or her training and give the person the nec­essary counseling. Our students can be of any age and from any country. We have also taken care of young people from families in low income brackets, for them we have a special department, where the tuition fees are just $500 a year, or half the amount of university fees.

We also see to it that student select a de­partment that is best for them. It takes just one day for a student who has made a mistake to be transferred to another department. Those who wish can attend two departments. A student who wants to attend some particular course of lec­tures can do so on an occasional basis. To an extent, our choice of lecturers is influenced by the students. Sometimes, proceeding from their wishes, we invite a professor to deliver an addi­tional course of lectures.

Doesn’t paid education make students slack, when they can choose which lectures to attend, and so on?

Not those who have come to learn. Incidental students normally drop out – they would fail our end-of-term examinations anyway. Besides, our system of home assignments, course projects, and tests keeps busy even the late sleepers.

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