There are many components to, and aspects of, Soviet education; but how does the organizational structure of the Soviet educational system favor efficiency and national power? How does the Soviet structure differ from the typical traditional U. S. model? The essay proceeds to comment on the alleged disparity between planning and implementation of Soviet education across the broad demographic and geographic spectrum, with the consequent implication for Soviet national power. It concentrates on structure and concludes that Soviet technological progress has been accelerated by the structure. The effort seems, however, to have exceeded the inherent benefits of the structure, to the detriment of both quality and quantity in educational system expansion, not to mention end products competing with advanced United States computer and other high technologies. (Author/JH)