American University

Location and Contact Information

The campus is in a large city.

Overview

American University, or AU, was established on February 24, 1893, by an Act of Congress. This private, United Methodist-affiliated, research university covers more than 80 acres in Washington, D.C. The first class of AU began on October 6, 1914, with 28 students. On June 2, 1915, the First Commencement was organized. AU has another campus called the Tenley Campus. The university is divided into several academic units including:

• College of Arts and Sciences
• Kogod School of Business
• School of Communication
• School of International Service
• School of Public Affairs
• Washington College of Law

AU is home to a number of National Interfraternity Councils, National Panhellenic Councils, and National Pan-Hellenic Councils. Some of these include the Alpha Chi Omega, Chi Omega, Lambda Pi Chi, Alpha Epsilon Phi, Phi Sigma Sigma, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Kappa Alpha Psi, and Pi Kappa Phi.

Highlights (vs. Other Schools)

• United Methodist religious affiliation.
• Many students concentrating in religion and philosophy, photography and commercial art, law, media, and liberal arts.
• High percentage of students are from out-of-state.
• Large number of programs of study offered.
• High faculty salary.
• Large number of students.
• High SAT scores (combined Verbal and Math).
• Good faculty-to-student ratio.
• High female/male ratio.
• Number of dorm rooms for students.

School characteristics:

• The school is private, not-for-profit.
• Academic calender: Semester.
• Carnegie classification: Doctoral/Research Universities, Extensive.

Features of note:

• The school offers a faculty tenure system.
• There are one or more libraries on-campus.
• Campus housing is available.
• Students may study abroad.
• Distance learning is available.
• Weekend study is an option.
• Part-time classes are available.
• ROTC.
• Athlete financial aid is awarded.

Similar Schools

Based on proprietary BrainTrack computer comparisons against all other US colleges, these schools appear to be most similar to American University:

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Degrees Awarded (in 2009-2010)

Faculty

Tenure (2009-2010):

Students

Student enrollment was 11,684 in 2009-2010 (11,292 full-time equivalent).

About 40% of the freshmen class in 2009-2010 was male and women were 60% of the class.

Undergrads are 53% of enrolled students and graduate students are 47%.

Students under 25 years old represent 69% of the student body. About 3% of the school is at least 40 years of age.

Admissions Summary (2009-2010)

SAT Test Scores:

Room and Board

American University provides on-campus housing for 3,713 of its 11,292 (full-time) students (as of 2009-2010).

Athletics

The school is in the Patriot League for major sports.

The school offers financial aid for athletes. Of students receiving athletic financial aid, 72 male students received the aid (men were 46% of those receiving aid) and 84 women were awarded financial aid based on athletics (representing 54% of students receiving such aid) .

Graduate School Focus

American University offers graduate (post-Bachelor) studies. The highest degree offered is the Doctorate (Research/Scholarship & Professional Practice).

The school's Graduate School Carnegie Classification is Comprehensive Doctoral (No Medical/Veterinary).

Programs of Study

(Number of degrees in 2009-2010 in parentheses)

ART STUDIES (17 awarded)

• Arts Management

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT (393 awarded)

• Accounting
• Business Administration and Management
• Business, Management, Marketing & Related Support Services
• Finance
• Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration
• International Business/Trade/Commerce
• Management Information Systems
• Marketing/Marketing Management
• Taxation

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (3 awarded)

• Computer Science

CONSERVATION AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (9 awarded)

• Environmental Science
• Environmental Studies

DESIGN (13 awarded)

• Graphic Design

DRAMA AND PERFORMING ARTS (6 awarded)

• Dance
• Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts

EDUCATION AND TEACHING (238 awarded)

• Education
• Education/Teaching Individuals - Specific Learning Disabilities
• Educational Leadership and Administration
• Elementary Education and Teaching
• International and Comparative Education
• Mathematics Teacher Education
• Secondary Education and Teaching
• Teaching English as Second/Foreign Language/ESL Language Instructor

FAMILY AND SOCIAL WORK (175 awarded)

• Public Administration
• Public Administration and Social Service Professions
• Public Policy Analysis

FINE ARTS (30 awarded)

• Art History, Criticism and Conservation
• Fine/Studio Arts

LAW (620 awarded)

• American/US Law/Legal Studies/Jurisprudence (LLM, MCJ, JSD/SJD)
• International Law and Legal Studies (LLM, JSD/SJD)
• Law (LLB, JD)

LIBERAL ARTS (1,244 awarded)

• American/United States Studies/Civilization
• Anthropology
• Applied Economics
• Creative Writing
• Economics
• English Language and Literature/Letters
• Ethnic, Cultural Minority, and Gender Studies
• European Studies/Civilization
• French Language and Literature
• French Studies
• German Language and Literature
• German Studies
• History
• International Economics
• International Relations and Affairs
• Language Interpretation and Translation
• Latin American Studies
• Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
• Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies
• Near and Middle Eastern Studies
• Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
• Political Science and Government
• Russian Language and Literature
• Russian Studies
• Social Sciences
• Sociology
• Spanish Language and Literature
• Women's Studies

MATHEMATICS (19 awarded)

• Applied Mathematics
• Mathematics
• Statistics

MEDIA (258 awarded)

• Animation, Interactive Tech, Video Graphics and Special Effects
• Communication Studies/Speech Communication and Rhetoric
• Journalism

MEDICINE (1 awarded)

• Pre-Medicine/Pre-Medical Studies

MUSIC (15 awarded)

• Music History, Literature, and Theory
• Music

NUTRITION AND EXERCISE THERAPY (22 awarded)

• Health and Physical Education
• Sport and Fitness Administration/Management

PHOTOGRAPHY AND COMMERCIAL ART (90 awarded)

• Cinematography and Film/Video Production
• Film/Cinema Studies
• Intermedia/Multimedia

REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT (3 awarded)

• Real Estate

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY (34 awarded)

• Ethics
• Philosophy

SCIENCE (62 awarded)

• Acoustics
• Biochemistry
• Biology/Biological Sciences
• Chemistry
• Physics
• Toxicology

SECURITY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT (32 awarded)

• Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement Administration

THERAPY AND COUNSELING (95 awarded)

• Clinical Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology and Psycholinguistics
• Experimental Psychology
• Personality Psychology
• Psychology