I have some anecdotal evidence from a reliable source.

Maria Kabalykh, who just finished the Muskie program, said that at her orientation of about 50 grantees only one received a scholarship to a top institution – Yale. He happened to be about 45 years old and was a top aide to Shakashvili, who was also a Muskie awardee. Masha has a list of everyone and where they were sent.

This experience matches almost all the experiences of MUNRFE students over the past 10 years. For example, this year we have 5 awardees of various scholarships. Their schools range from Ole Miss to U. of Idaho to Cal State Bakersfield. In ten years we have had approximately 44 awardees of various scholarships, from U-grad to Muskie to Fulbright. The general experience is the same – great anticipation followed by disappointment.

I don’t want to misrepresent their experiences. All of them are grateful for their experience. None of them outright complain. However, given that most of them score extremely high on TOEFL and GRE (top 10%) and all of them have impressive resumes it seems as if they are presented with a ‘tyranny of the or’ decision – either accept what they get or stay in Russia. In fact, some of them have asked for reassignments and have been told that they don’t get to choose and there are plenty of others waiting to take their spot.

This year we are taking a different tact. Several of our best students are studying for the GRE on their own and applying to the best schools on their own to see if they can have other options.

I cannot understand how the State Dep. could lose if the best Russians were paired with the best Americans. I assume there must be something else involved. But if the primary goal is related to education, then it seems objectively we are missing the target by far and, worse, we are presenting ourselves as slightly imperialist in the process.

I wonder if this is something we could do in terms of a paper or op-ed that would stimulate a discussion of these programs objectives as the policy-maker level. If for nothing else, then to ask the question of whether or not we are spending are tax dollars wisely.

At the same time, I can see the rationale given by the State Department as having validity. If all of the students just wanted to go to the top Universities located in several cities, then there could be some missed opportunitites.

I am curious though whether this is true country wide or just those students coming from the regions. Do you have more information about that?

I would be interested to hear your opinion about education programs that encourage young Russians to attend universities in the U.S. for one to two years on scholarships paid by U.S. tax dollars. In principle and spirit, this is portrayed as a win-win relationship. However, the Russian students chosen on average are exceptional students with abilities to attend the best universities in the world. Yet, it is rare that they are given scholarships to attend such institutions. Rather it is common that they are sent to second and third rate institutions in rather remote locations. The rational given by the State Department is that this is an effective way of cultural exchange – students in remote U.S. locations get exposed to students from other countries and Russian students get a “better” education than they would if they stayed in Russia.

Without naming specific locations, this relationship seems rather one-sided. Why wouldn’t students at our best universities benefit from interaction with the best students of Russia?