The USSR lacks qualified workers and midlevel specialists. A variant of community colleges in the United States is being organized in Kazan and Nizhnekamsk to prepare middle-level managers and qualified workers. The community college has been established as a basic educational institution for perestroika of the Soviet professional educational system, as a means of converting to market economics, and as a continuous education model. It will train middle-level managers and workers and offer retraining. The community college will combine three existing educational institutions. The concept of continuing education will be realized by means of 5-year, three-stage study period. The three progressive stages are qualified worker training, technician training, and preparation of junior engineers. General and vocational subjects are closely integrated. Acquisition of scientific and technical knowledge remains the major purpose of study, but intellectual and practical competence is also a focus of the teaching/learning process. The community college environment also provides an opportunity to combine Soviet and U.S. approaches for interpreting the intellectual activity levels of individuals and current learning theories. (YLB)