The Institute started in an unusual way. At the very beginning foreign students studied Russian language at a Language Center. Universities in Great Britain, the USA, and Sweden recognized the programs of this Center. Ever since every year about 150 foreign students and post-graduates take courses at the Department of Russian Studies.

1996 is the year of the founding of the Nevsky Institute of Language and Culture. The first Russian applicants were from northern Russian towns. Today students of the Nevsky are from Russia, Belarus, the Ukraine, Estonia, Moldova, and Azerbaijan as well as from the USA, Great Britain, France and other countries.

There are following Departments at the Nevsky Institute:

• Linguistics and Linguistic Arts
• Public Relations
• Finance
• Management
• Accounting
• Russian Studies
• European Studies

Students can take Minors at the Department of Arts and Letters, the Foreign Language Center (English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, etc.) and the TOEFL Preparation Center.