I read an article in the NY Times today about American University in Beirut, and it brought up a question that I’ve had for a long time. I think I know the answer, but I was never sure about it.
There are a lot of universities named “American University” that are located in countries outside the U.S. Organizationally, do they have anything in common? Or is it just a historical thing – for example, the one in Beirut was originally founded by a Protestant church from the U.S. But it was also mentioned that it gets some of its funding from the U.S. government.
Do they conduct classes in English? Are they called “American” because that’s the origin of who founded them? Do they all get U.S. government funding?
Here is a little something about the American University in Beirut which says the following:
So it looks as though there is some funding by the American Government and association with the embassies overseas, if you go ahead and look at the website. There are a lot of websites out there, too much for me, though.
Definitely a good question. I noticed it yesterday, but did not have time to go further.
I researched this awhile ago too, because we have an American University in Bulgaria, too (in beautiful Blagoevgrad…no, really, Blagoevgrad is a really nice city), and couldn’t come up with a lot. Vague information on government and aid agencies.
I do know that the American University in Bulgaria is quite pricey by local standards, so I imagine tuition funds a bit.
Ahh, finally a GQ in my field of expertise. Give me a moment to bask in it…ahhhh.
Now then. Indeed the American University of XXX model is found throughout the world. What makes them “American” universities is simply that the instructional style, academic culture, and overall structure is American. For example, at the American University of Paris grades are given on the A through F scale, even though the standard for the French education system is a numeric one (1 through 20). As I mentioned, the structure is more closely aligned with a US “liberal arts” college in that students can take a wide range of courses and disciplines on their way to a degree. In most of Europe, the “normal” university is much more similar to a US graduate school, particularly in the specificity of coursework and discipline “tracks” that students follow.
Other AU’s I know of are American University of Cairo and American University of Rome. They need not receive funding from the US (though I suppose they could) and are almost always private rather than public institutions.