The thesis is devoted to the theoretical and methodical bases of bilingual education in the US universities. On the basis of scientific literature and normative documents analysis the actuality of the problem and essence of the research subject have been defined. It has been found out that bilingual and multilingual education function in the context of multicultural policy. The main multicultural theories defining the way of bilingual education development have been characterized: multicultural citizenship theory of W. Kimlika, multicultural liberalism theory of M. Waltzer, cultural pluralism theory of G. Callen, transformational multiculturalism theory of B. Martin. Two theoretical approaches to the bilingual education have been singled out: monoglossic and heteroglossic. It has been determined that within the monoglossic theory function additive and substractive types of bilingual education and the following bilingual education models are used: transitional, submersion, first language learning, English as a second language, immersion. The heteroglossic theory comprises dynamic and recursive types of bilingual education and the following bilingual education models are used: the first language immersion, developmental, two-way immersion, multilingual. It has been underlined that modern bilingual education is mostly based on the heteroglossic theory and heteroglossic types and models of bilingual education are widely used in the US universities. The definitions of the basic notions of the investigation ("bilingualism", "bilingual education", "multiculturalism", "multicultural education", "language policy", "forms of bilingual instruction", "methods of bilingual instruction") have been specified. The historical-retrospective and chronological analysis of American bilingual education development has been carried out and the preconditions of bilingual education development have been singled out: ethnicity of the founders of the country; educational needs of immigrant communities; establishment of bilingual schools and deficiency of proficient bilingual teachers; English learning courses for ethnic minorities workers as a prototype of modern bilingual professional programs in the US universities. It has been discovered that language policy in the USA was influenced by federal and state court decisions concerning bilingual education. The analysis of court decisions and legislation on bilingual education enabled distinguishing four periods of American language policy (foundation period, 1963?1967, extension period, 1968-1980, restriction period, 1981-2008, renovation period, 2009 - till now). The following factors, influencing the development of bilingual education on the contemporary period, have been distinguished: demographic, economical, global education, technological, social. The main strategies of higher bilingual education development have been singled out: focus on "adult" students, development and implementation of on-line instructional courses, training of effective bilingual teachers. The following forms of bilingual instruction in the US universities have been described: lectures, project work, cooperation, individual consultations, self-education, electronic learning and interactive learning. The content bases of bilingual programs of the following universities have been analysed: Arizona university, California university, Kansas university, New York university, Texas A&M university, Steinhardt university, Albany university, Stony Brook university, West Carolina university, West New Mexico university, Utah state university. It has been found out that Teaching English as a Second Language (TESOL) program is aimed at bilingual teachers preparation, Bilingual education program prepares bilingual teacher, educational leaders and researchers in the field of bilingual and multicultural education, Vocational Bilingual Program offer vocational education through bilingual instruction, Heritage Language Revival program concentrate on the language minority students native language development. It has been determined that bilingual education of Ukraine and that of the USA are similar according to the following criteria: regional conditionality of bilingual education, intensified attention to the ethnic minorities' education problems, the legislation as for the ethnic minorities education. The proposals for the creative adaptation of positive American bilingual education experience for the Ukrainian education are given within the following models: "Native Language and Ukrainian Language", "Ukrainian Language and Foreign Language", "Multilingual".
