Voronezh Regional Educational Advising Center (VREAC) was founded in September, 1997 in direct response to the increased interest to the international education opportunities. In 1998, VREAC acquired the status of a US Government-Affiliated Educational Information Center. Since then, we have been operating as a part of a network of American education information centers, coordinated by the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs of the US Department of State. For five years, we have advised students, scholars, and educators, who are researching possibilities of studying or training in the USA. The Center is free and open to public. Annually, we handle about two thousand information requests, and we are involved in recruitment for the US Government-sponsored exchange programs with Russia. 

 
In accordance with its primary goal to promote international education opportunities in Voronezh, VREAC offers:
- Access to the Center’s information resources (college directories, university and college catalogs, bulletin boards, special subject folders, compiled by the VREAC advisers, and Internet) and training resources (practice tests, test prep books, other materials, and software);
- Lectures, workshops, and individual consultations on how to study in the USA, which cover the wide range of informational and practical issues regarding one’s plans to study in the US;
- Assessment of standardized test proficiency through diagnostic testing and individualized score-improvement recommendations from educational professionals;
- The most up-to-date information on exchange programs, scholarships, and fellowships;
- On-line assistance at our web site “Virtual Consultant”. 

The Center is a great information resource. We give general lectures on how to study in the US and special subject lectures on occasion. General lectures familiarize our visitors with the system of education in the USA, including the system of admissions to colleges and universities, financial aid options, visa isuues, etc. At our special subject seminars and workshops, educational advisors offer tips on how to write successful application essays, resumes, and letters of recommendation.

We keep track of, update, and put on a display the latest information on sponsored education programs and grant competitions, announced by various international education and research sponsors.  The reading hall of the Center houses college and university catalogs, audio and video materials, special subject folders, test preparation courses, and American English textbooks. 

Programs and activities currently run by the Center:

TEST ORIENTATION program. The Center offers consultations on standardized admission tests – TOEFL, GMAT, GRE (Subject and General), SAT (Subject and General). Advisors explain the issues relative to the subscription and preparation for the tests, and test administration practices. Our visitors are advised to practice writing sample tests to adapt themselves to the test format, contents, and time limitations. Practice tests, training materials, American English textbooks, audio and video materials are available in the Center's reading hall and may be used on the Center’s equipment.  This program also offers seminars on TWE essay writing arranged by educational advisors and American English teaching specialists.

FIND YOUR UNIVERSITY program. The VREAC offers advice and resourses to assist individual decisions regarding one's choice of college. Through the Center, attendees learn about sponsored education programs, exchange programs, and individual placement to colleges. Educational advisors show how to work with college directories, catalogs, web sites and other resourses to find adequate up-to-date information on education opportunities in one's field of interest; and, as a result, evaluate one's own chances to be admitted. Visitors learn to write college information requests, fill out application forms, apply for financial aid, etc. They also learn in what respect American education system is different from Russian.  Upon receiving information from colleges, educational advisors help to select the most adequate program in every particular case. Visitors work with special subject folders, containing sample documents required for admission. To translate their own papers into English correctly, they read sample translations of high school / undergraduate/ graduate transcripts and diplomas,  sample letters of recommendation, applications, addmission essays, etc. 

Materials that are available in the Center are very useful. Test preparation courses are very expensive for students. Usual monthly income of an average student will not be enough to cover one half of a single book’s price. Moreover, this type of books may not be found in Voronezh non-commercial libraries and going to Moscow for them is costly and inconvenient. Therefore, students are very excited to get access to these books in Voronezh.