A Moscow university founded as a propaganda ploy by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev celebrated its 40th anniversary last week.

Now one of the country's leading educational institutions, The People's Friendship University of Russia has retained its original role as an international college and takes students from many parts of the world.

"We want to keep our role as a leading international university," said Dmitry Bilibin, university chancellor at the college where a third of students are foreigners, mainly from Africa and Asia.

Formerly known as Patrice Lumumba University, the institution was founded when Khrushchev visited Indonesia in February 1960. "When he was told an international university was to be founded [in Indonesia], he responded that we already had one," Bilibin said. The nonexistent university was set up overnight and went on to play a leading role in Soviet Third World policy.

Students enjoyed the best educational equipment and materials in the Soviet Union, as the college became a valuable international propaganda tool. Unlike other Russian colleges, there were no entrance examinations, and applicants had to be recommended by a public organization in their home country.

Today, the university is the only one in the country where Russian students pay more than their foreign counterparts. "This [policy] is to increase our competitiveness [to attract foreign students]," Bilibin said. "Our students get strong training in social tolerance, and create real friendships with people of different nationalities and races," a spokesman added.