There are a number of schools throughout Europe that are accredited by US agencies and use that as a way to have American-sized tuition. One of the many benefits of college in Europe is the affordability, so I tend not to give those schools much attention. Anglo-American University interested me as all of their programs are conducted in English, they tout an “American” style of teaching, and they have WASC accreditation, an agency that also accredits schools like Stanford University, yet their tuition is under 4500 euros per year! Like in Poland, private schools only came into existence after the end of the Cold War.

Though AAU is a fairly young school, founded in 1990, it is the oldest private institution of higher education in the Czech Republic. After meeting with administrators, I learned that the school has undergone many (positive) changes administratively and also around its curriculum in the past five years or so to meet the criteria to achieve WASC accreditation.

The AAU facilities are incredible. They recently moved to a location right near the river in a great part of town near Prague Castle. It’s a historic building that they renovated for school use. I can’t even begin to tell you how beautiful it is, so it’s worth checking out here. https://campus.aauni.edu/

Be sure to look at the computer lab! AAU has seven bachelor's degree programs (all of which are conducted in English), with business as the largest. Like most schools in Europe, students apply to an actual program, but since there are a large number of electives, students can generally do an internal transfer to switch programs after the first year. AAU prides itself on small class sizes (max of 25 students), interactive group work, and class discussions.

The small student body does not mean that students have a limited choice of classes. Over 200 courses are generally offered each semester. Some of the classes sound really cool as well. Isn’t it a great time in our world to take a Psychology of Aggression course? There is also a class about NATO in which different NATO representatives give virtual lectures throughout the semester.

The small student body allows students and professors to get to know each other, and professors are accessible to students inside and outside of class. The small school size presents fewer potential social issues than in the US. While there are a number of ways to get involved socially at AAU, staying in a student residence opens up your opportunity to experience student life in Prague as a whole.