American InterContinental University
Atlanta, Georgia
Houston, Texas
American Intercontinental University’s website boasts, “An AIU degree in one investment where you’re in control of the return.” Click this GET MORE INFO link for specialized information regarding AIU’s online degree programs.
School’s History:
American Intercontinental University was founded in Europe in 1970. The original name of the school was the American Fashion College of Switzerland. The school started offering associate and bachelor’s degrees in 1974. In 1976, the school opened a campus in Atlanta, Georgia and in 1978 the campus moved to London and changed its name to the American College for the Applied Arts. By 1978 the school had around 300 people and began to offer other courses besides fashion. Over the next decades, several other campuses were opened and in 1996 it was renamed as the American InterContinental University. AIU Online was launched in 2001. More than 80% of its current 15,000 students attend AIU Online which delivers a 100% online education. The online campus is located in Chicago, Illinois.
AIU offers students preparation for careers in business, criminal justice, education, information technology, design and healthcare management. A main part of the mission of AIU, while providing career and learning opportunities in these degree programs, is to focus on the individuals who attend the school. The university places an emphasis on the educational, personal and professional growth of each student. At the same time, AIU has, since its beginnings, sought to have a global scope and cutting-edge technology.
The success of American InterContinental University is shown by its accomplished alumni. Some of those alumni include those who have acquired the Distinguished Alumni Award. Notable alumni also include fashion designer, Christian Siriano, politicians Ronald Brise and Graham Hunt as well as Ugandan politician, Amelia Kyambadde. The musicians, David Ellefson and Zee Avi also attended AIU.
Accreditations:
- American InterContinental University is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
- AIU’s business administration degree programs with all their specializations are programmatically accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs.
- The Master of Education Program is awarded Teacher Education Accreditation Council initial accreditation by the Inquiry Brief Commission of the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation for a period of three years, from October 2015 – October 2018. The accreditation does not include individual education courses that the Education Preparation Provider offers to P-12 educators for professional development, re-licensure, or other purposes.
- State Licensure
- AIU is approved by the State of Georgia to operate by the Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission.
- AIU is recognized as a private college by the Illinois Board of Higher Education and authorized to grant Associate, Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.
- AIU in Houston is authorized by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to offer degrees and courses leading to degrees in Texas.
- AIU is authorized to offer educational programs and award degrees and diplomas in the State of Wisconsin by the Educational Approval Board.
Online Programs:
American InterContinental University currently offers online degrees in the following areas of study:
- Accounting
- Bachelor’s
- Business
- Associate, Bachelor’s and Master’s
- Criminal Justice
- Associate and Bachelor’s
- Education
- Master’s
- Information Technology
- Bachelor’s and Master’s
- Healthcare Management
- Bachelor’s and Master’s
Prominent Online Degrees:
Of special note in their online programs are AIU’s business administration degree programs. AIU offers 23 programs with different specializations in business administration. These specializations are offered in the following degrees: 1 Associate degree, 12 Bachelor’s degrees and 10 Master’s degrees with specializations in areas such as: Finance; Healthcare; Human Resource; International Business and Marketing among others. The business administration degrees are all accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs.
Other online degree programs at AIU which are more diverse are the Education, Criminal Justice and Information Technology programs which each offer 6 different degrees and varying specializations. The Masters of Education program was also listed in U.S. News and World Report’s 2016 Best Online Graduate Education Programs.
Course Presentation and Flexibility:
AIU’s Virtual Campus allows its students to see the content of their courses, communicate with their professors, participate in group projects and access the digital library. The online classrooms provide interactive lessons, professor-led group chats and easy-to-track deadlines and assignments. The online library allows access to Ebooks, trade journals, videos and other reference materials. Every week, AIU Online offers dozens of online Learning Labs for extra training in many different topics. Of special interest in online presentation at AIU is the school’s unique system called intellipath. Intellipath was named a 2015 Best of Elearning! Award winner. Intellipath creates a customized learning map built around the curriculum that allows the student to read, watch or listen to the course content based on how they learn best. The program allows the student to skip what they already know, and focus on what they need to learn as well as getting support in the unique areas in which they need assistance.
Professors:
- One hundred percent of American InterContinental University’s professors have an advanced degree in their field.
- The faculty includes professors who have worked as Wall Street executives, government IT engineers, crime scene investigators and special agents. The average amount of time that an AIU professor has taught at the university is 6 years. To find out more about the faculty at AIU click here.
- AIU intentionally keeps the class-rooms small in order to give the faculty the opportunity to share their experience in a conversational way and to interact personally with each student in their class. AIU has a program called Virtual Campus which allows students to interact with their professors by live chat, lectures, office hours, instant message, email and discussion boards. In a recent poll, 4 out of 5 AIU students were happy with the effectiveness of Virtual Campus. AIU also provides mobile apps that enable the student to contact their professors.
- AIU has over 15,000 students, 54 full time instructors and 594 part time instructors. This puts the student to faculty ratio at 23 students to each faculty member.
Financial Aid and Scholarships:
American InterContinental University provides students with many financial aid possibilities. The user-friendly American InterContinental University financial aid page provides access to both live chat online chatting with a university financial adviser or telephone communication to assist current and potential students with their financial aid questions. American InterContinental University also maintains a financial aid resource page to assist students in determining available aid sources as well as calculating education costs.
American InterContinental University, in addition to Federal Financial Aid in the form of loans and grants, also offers scholarships to worthy applicants. Also of interest is that students currently in active military service receive a 45% discount in undergraduate tuition. American Intercontinental University, unlike some online schools and colleges, accepts transfer credits for up to 75% of the credits required for a degree, which translates into savings on total education cost. Employee tuition reimbursement programs are also available.
The financial aid available at American InterContinental University includes:
- Federal Financial Aid
- 9 Different Student Grants
- Loans
- 7 Student Scholarships
- 45% Discount to Active U.S. Military Personnel
- Employee Tuition Reimbursement
Of particular note, in addition to the various federal grant and loan options available to students, the American InterContinental University offers several scholarships.
School Awards and Recognition:
- American InterContinental University’s online bachelor’s degree program was ranked No. 30 in U.S. News & World Report’s prestigious Best Online Bachelor’s Programs listing for 2016.
- AIU’s online MBA program was listed on the 2016 Best Online MBA Programs ranking from U.S. News & World Report.
- U.S. News & World Report listed AIU’s Master of Education program among the 2016 Best Online Graduate Education Programs.
- AIU was ranked No. 28 out of 195 programs evaluated on U.S. News & World Report’s Best Online Bachelor’s Programs for Veterans. This honor recognizes universities for providing access to distance education for active-duty troops and veterans.
- American InterContinental University was named one of the country’s Military Friendly Schools by Victory Media. This award is given to schools that provide military students and their families opportunity and support for their educational goals.
- AIU’s Virtual Classroom earned a Gold Medal at the IMS Global 2016 Learning Impacts Awards. This award honors the effective use of technology worldwide to support efficient student learning.
- ELearning! Magazine awarded American InterContinental University a 2015 Best of Elearning! Award for intellipath, the university’s proprietary adaptive learning platform. Among other things, intellipath allows students to efficiently concentrate on the information that needs the most attention and skip over what they already know.
- American InterContinental University was the first university in the state of Illinois to be approved to operate under the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA). NC-SARA creates national standards for interstate post-secondary distance education programs.
Tuition
The following table is based upon data from the National Center for Education Statistics comparing the net yearly cost for 31 online schools, colleges and universities similar to American InterContinental University. The table shows how the cost of American InterContinental University instruction for full-time undergraduate students is well below the average yearly cost across comparable institutions. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average cost for studying online with the American Intercontinental University is $11,004. In the past two years, American InterContinental University tuition has gone down over $2,000 per year, making it one of the more affordable full-time online college options.
Career Advancement:
Both during studies and following graduation, American InterContinental University maintains strong relationships with students and alumni in order to ensure students achieve success. Career advancement support is offered in the form of classes as well as career mentoring and counseling. The university maintains several programs designed to help students identify their most likely avenues of securing a good-paying job once they finish studies. The university provides classes in job searching strategy, resume building and self-marketing. American InterContinental University also provides mentoring throughout and after study.
American InterContinental University’s Career Advancement Components:
- Career Advantage Program: provides students with career coaches certified by the Professional Association of Resume Writer, who help students and graduates stay current on effective job search strategies.
- Career Builder Partnership: provides job notifications that match student profiles.
- Employer Connections: allows students to make connections with potential employers through University corporate partners.
- Serious Advantage Career Series: four courses that guide students in career planning, interview skills and resume building and writing.
- Personalize Career Coaching: allows current students to get a head start in planning for their future by mentoring in job search strategies, marketing and resume writing.
- Alumni Resources: makes it possible for graduates to stay in touch with the University and keep abreast of changing job markets and job search strategies.
American Intercontinental University has been recognized in the following rankings by OnlineSchoolsCenter.com: