The New York City-based Open Society Institute has announced a $5 million grant to Indiana University to help establish an endowment fund for the American University of Central Asia (AUCA).

The two universities have exchanged faculty on their respective campuses since AUCA was established in 1997 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Housed in a building that once was the home of Kyrgyzstan's Communist Party, the university's 1,100 students study business administration, economics, Western legal and political systems, and journalism. The university is the first in the region to operate according to the American university model, complete with a credit-hour system and American-style curriculum.

"Recent events in Kyrgyzstan motivate us to charge ahead aggressively in developing long-term financial independence," said AUCA president Ellen Hurwitz, referring to the recent pro-democracy revolution in Kyrgyzstan that forced the ouster last month of President Askar Akayev. "We are profoundly grateful to our partners who recognize our strategic value and who champion our cause."

In addition, the U.S. Agency for International Development has agreed to provide $10 million toward the endowment, which will be managed by the Indiana University Foundation and will help pay for AUCA's operating costs.