1.  The EUSP has greater independence from the Russian governmental bureaucracy than most other Russian universities.  This independence is important for both intellectual and political reasons.  Universities in Russia were traditionally under the control of the government, to the extent of questions of the content of instruction and research, political ideology, and administration.

2.  At the EUSP a high proportion of faculty have degrees from prominent Western universities. The university employs Russians with PhDs from such recognized schools as the University of California, Berkeley; the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Cambridge University (UK); Helsinki University (Finland), a.o.

3.  The EUSP has a commitment to the integration of Russian scholarship with scholarship in Europe and America.  Against the background of Russian scholarship’s continuing isolation from the West, this is a fundamentally important position.

4.  The EUSP encourages mobility but combats the brain drain.  Rather than promoting the departure of graduate students to the West, EUSP invites Western students to come and study in Russia.  The International MA in Russian Studies is the ONLY permanent program at the graduate level in Russia that offers degrees in sociology, political science and cultural studies to students from the United States, Canada and Europe (12 to 26 students annually).  Both international and Russian students enjoy the advantages of studying in a truly international setting.

5.  The EUSP is a decisive agent of innovation and change, introducing and disseminating new standards and practices in the Russian educational system.