AUA Receives US Accreditation

This is actually really big news, folks! The accreditation process has been going on for a few years now and the success means a lot for the school and the country. Now a Diasporan (or indeed a non-Armenian) from the Texas, Tbilisi, Tehran or anywhere else can come to Armenia and get a degree that will be fully accepted to one earned in California or elsewhere. This includes an MBA, or other degrees which of course would cost much more in the USA. For locals who would go there anyway, this makes their degree much more valuable internationally. The AUA also recently was given the HyeBusiness Suites Hotel in central Yerevan which it will be using for housing, and began constructing dormitories last year adjacent to campus. In other words, the university is growing quickly, and this is a huge step in the right direction...

The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) has accredited the American University of Armenia. The American University of Armenia (AUA) received the maximum of seven years initial accreditation from WASC's Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities. WASC is one of six regional associations recognized by the United Stated Department of Education that accredit public and private universities and colleges.

"We are extremely proud of achieving WASC accreditation," said AUA President Haroutune Armenian. "This is an unprecedented event in the history of Armenian higher education and US accreditation opens new doors for the University. Accreditation will increase regional and Diaspora interest in higher education in Armenia and will create new lifelong linkages to Armenia," continued President Armenian.

Armenian Minister of Education and Science Levon Mkrtchyan explained, "The accreditation of the American University of Armenia by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges will exert considerable influence on Armenia's educational system. AUA is a University that underwent the very complex procedure of Western accreditation and it provides the assurance of quality at international standards. This success is the result of AUA's consistent work and self-analysis of many years."

AUA was established in 1991 with support from the Armenian Government, the Armenian General Benevolent Union, and USAID and from its founding has been an affiliate of the University of California. The University offers graduate degrees in the health sciences, political science and international affairs, industrial engineering, computer and information sciences, teaching English as a second language, business management, and law.

Accreditation indicates that AUA has undergone a period of intensive and comprehensive self-study followed by on-site evaluations of institutional performance and educational processes, that AUA operates at a high level of quality consistent with WASC Commission standards, and that it has sufficient resources to support existing and planned programs at a satisfactory level of quality.

According to AUA Provost and Vice President Lucig Danielian, "As a young institution that carries the traditions of Western higher education to Armenia an its region, the American University of Armenia has the important responsibility of attaining the highest possible standards in education and academic management. The process of accreditation provides us with the opportunity to achieve the high standards that we seek."

AUA began the WASC accreditation process in 1998 and was supported throughout with grants from the US State Department. Three teams of distinguished American university academics and administrators visited Armenia to evaluate AUA during the different stages of the accreditation process.