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Gives a country by country guide for travel in Eastern Europe. Includes background on academic institutions, accommodations, walks through some cities, points of interest, costs; Countries covered include Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. INSET: Visa information and key contacts for travel in Eastern Europe..

Reports on struggles faced by East European universities as government support declines. Independence and autonomy given since the fall of communism; Managing scarce resources; Meeting with business leaders; Few students per teacher; Charles University; Tuition charges.

Discusses the change in curriculum structure of Eastern European universities after the fall of communism. Support of progressive academic and political leaders; Grants of autonomy for universities; Replacement of conservative rectors and deans by reform-minded people.

Airs the disappointment of Eastern Europeans over the slow progress of reforms in the region's higher education. Placement of reform-minded deans and rectors in institutions in 1989; Doubling of enrollees in postsecondary education institutions; Continued reliance on learning based on memorizing of lectures; Creation of awards program for outstanding higher education reforms.

Details that since the demise of Communist rule in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, hundreds of private higher-education institutions have been established across the region. How the development of private higher education in the region has been unplanned and unregulated; How the institutions have embraced modern teaching methods; How Romania has experienced the biggest explosion of private institutions; How Russia developed an accreditation mechanism.

Examines the inertia and conservatism that are slowing down campus reform in several Eastern Europe countries that were previously Communist. Teaching corps trained under Communism; Importance of changes that have already been made; Positive changes most notable in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland; Time needed to allow professors to change their attitudes; No signs of government intrusion on academic freedoms; How personnel changes are needed to make things happen; More.

Surveys the TEMPUS program, which includes some 1,800 institutions and 637 projects involving East-West academic cooperation, which typically focuses on designing new courses or developing an entire curriculum for the East European institution. Financing by the European Community; The Trans-European Mobility Program for University Studies is administered by a staff of 45 at EC headquarters, Brussels; TEMPUS regulations; Fields covered.

Reports that the World Bank is promoting a Western approach to higher education in Eastern Europe. Evolution of higher education in Eastern Europe; Outline of reforms of the countries; Basis of loan negotiations.

Reports on the concerns of eastern academics in line with the victory over Communism despite the experience of more freedom. Issue of job security; Decrease in living standards; Obstacles to getting their articles published; Fatigue brought about by the economic and social changes.

Reports on the launch of an education program involving academic exchange from West European universities and financial assistance for East European Universities. Approval rates for project proposals and education programs; Details about the exchange programs; Finance for the operations of colleges and universities.

Reports on the opening of university places previously allotted to students from left-leaning third world countries with the fall of Communist governments in Eastern Europe. Scholastic accomplishments' replacement of political considerations as the main criteria for admitting foreign students; Ending of East European countries' relative isolation from the West.

Reports on the failure of U.S. educational institutions to take adequate steps to interact with universities across Eastern Europe in 1990. Academic exchanges formed by university leaders in the European Community; American Council on Education's request for the U.S. Congress to finance an information clearinghouse on academic-exchange proposals; Demand in the U.S. for academic exchanges with institutions in the former Eastern bloc.

Reports on the growing trend of scientists from Western countries such as the United States and England to turn to scientists from Eastern European countries such as Poland and Czechoslovakia for knowledge in help with research; Advantages for both sides; How methods for educating scientists differs in Western and Eastern countries.

Looks at the European Journalism Network. United-States based non-profit organization as setting up independent newspapers produced by and for students in Eastern Europe and several former Soviet republics; Reports of political corruption and abuses of power as attracting the attention of authorities; Examples of conflict between the government and campus administrators; Students as suspicious of an independent student newspaper.

Discusses the business and management schools that are flourishing in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics since the collapse of one-party Communist rule. The opening of an estimated 1,000 schools; Criticism of the schools, many of which are proprietary; Multinational companies in Eastern Europe using the schools to train their local managers; The work of the Central and East European Management Development Association.

Reports on the status of women's-studies programs in the former Communist states of Eastern Europe. The popular attitudes toward studying or organizing around women's issues; Areas where women's-studies courses and programs have been established, including Warsaw University in Poland; Jirina Siklova's Gender Studies Center in Prague; Why women's studies is taking hold in Eastern Europe in a different way than did those in the United States; The Network of East-West Women.

Reports that the 1999 Hannah Arendt Prize for higher-education reform in Eastern Europe is being shared by the Institute for Contemporary History, in Prague, and the Center for the Study of the Classical Tradition, in Warsaw. Background of the prize; Details about the winning institutions; Special award given to George Soros.

Reports that the rectors of ten universities in eastern Europe have begun an experiment in cooperative education and academic exchange. Universities in Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine; Agreement signed by the governments in the Carpathian Euro-Region; Institute for EastWest Studies as sponsor; Goals of the project; Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and George Soros project.

Reports on the impact of the practice of seeking competitive applications for government research grants on science academies in Eastern Europe. Efforts to develop university-based research; Link between science academies' research facilities and universities; Elimination of academies' control over scientific research; Increase in government involvement in research.

Reports on the `Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking,' project to modernize teaching in public schools across Eastern Europe. Academics from Canada and the United States recruited as volunteers; Program's sponsorship by the Open Society Institute; Comments from Jeannie L. Steele of the University of Iowa.

Reports that the education ministers of ten former Communist countries in Easter Europe will endorse European Union's plan for the entry of the region's higher education institutions into the academic-exchange programs. Phasing out of the Tempus program; 1995 annual meeting of the European Association for International Education; Visa problems in educational exchanges.

Reports on the plans of the European Union to open exchanges with Eastern European schools. Sharing of costs and benefits of joint research programs; Exchange student and teacher programs; Development of compatible curricula; Advantage of scheme in not requiring major funds; Mutual recognition of degrees awarded in either venue.