The American University in Bulgaria (AUBG) is a private university in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. Established in 1991, AUBG had about 1,000 students from over 40 countries on 5 continents as of Fall 2022. Close to 40% of the students are international.

History

Founded in 1991, the American University in Bulgaria is the first American-style, liberal arts undergraduate education institution in Eastern Europe. The university is a cooperative venture established with the support of the U.S. and Bulgarian governments, the Open Society Institute, the City of Blagoevgrad, and the University of Maine. When it opened its doors in September 1991, AUBG's first-year class was 208 students and it had 16 full-time faculty members. Nowadays, it has around 1000 students from over 40 countries. By May 2019, twenty-four classes of around 5,000 students had graduated from AUBG.

Funding

The university has three sources of funding: its endowment (which came largely from gifts from the United States Agency for International Development and the Soros Foundation), gifts, and tuition.

Accreditation

Baccalaureate degrees conferred by AUBG are accredited in both Bulgaria and the United States. AUBG is institutionally accredited in the United States from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. The university also issues a European Diploma Supplement (part of Europass), which confers automatic recognition of the AUBG degree throughout Europe.

Rankings

For consecutive years, AUBG holds the top position nationally in Business Administration, European Studies, Journalism and Mass Communication, and Political Science and International Relations. The Economics, Computer Science, and Information Systems programs rank second in Bulgaria. A university survey in 2016 found that sixty-five percent of graduating students received more than one job offer or higher degree program acceptance letter when they applied for work or a higher degree upon completing their studies at AUBG. Approximately 20 percent of graduates earned more than $100,000/year and over 20 percent of alumni from 1995 to 2005 who were currently working in the U.S. earned more than $250,000/year.

Academics

The university follows the traditional American-style of education liberal arts. More than 60% of the students graduate from AUBG with two majors or a major and a minor. More than half of graduating seniors complete double majors, while many undergraduates supplement their main field of study with a minor in one of 19 disciplines offered at AUBG. The university employs about 70 faculty members from over 15 countries. AUBG students can spend a year or a semester at one of several hundred universities in the United States through the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP). In Europe, AUBG is the holder of a standard Erasmus Charter and has bilateral Erasmus Programme agreements with over 50 institutions.

Graduate programs

In addition to its undergraduate programs, the university offers an Executive MBA program in Sofia.

Non-degree programs

The university offers a number of training courses. Most of these are held in the AUBG Elieff Center for Education and Culture in Sofia. The Blagoevgrad-based English Language Institute offers English-language instruction at all levels and for all ages year-round.

Tuition and scholarships

AUBG offers spring and fall semester admission on a rolling basis. The university offers need- and merit-based aid to deserving students. The AUBG Tchaprachikoff scholarship provides partial funding for tuition for up to two years for Bulgarian AUBG graduates who are admitted to a graduate program in any one of the top 20 national universities in the United States or to any one of the top 20 U.S. schools in the respective fields.

Campus

The Skaptopara campus in Blagoevgrad is home to the university undergraduate programs. It includes three residence halls; Balkanski Academic Center, which houses classrooms, computer labs, and offices; Panitza Library, the largest English-language library in Southeast Europe; and the America for Bulgaria Students center. The residence halls have aerobic rooms, music practice rooms, multipurpose rooms, billiard and ping pong areas, several television lounges, outside decks, kitchens, and cafes. The Panitza Library is named for John Dimitry Panitza, a Bulgarian philanthropist and AUBG founder. Through Panitza's efforts, the library developed into the largest English-language library in the region. The Balkanski Academic Center bears the name of physicist Minko Balkanski The center was dedicated to Professor Balkanski and his family in 2010.

Student life

AUBG students can join clubs, student media, sports teams, and activities such as theatre, AUBG Choir, debating, Model United Nations simulations, and public service.

Student government

Established in 1991, the AUBG Student Government is a directly elected representative body of the students at AUBG. The Student Government holds its sessions weekly. It has a yearly budget, which is allocated among the student clubs and organizations.

Clubs

AUBG hosts chapters of international organizations, such as People to People International, AIESEC, the Phi Beta Delta Honor Society, and the Association for Computing Machinery. Social and sports organizations, such as the AUBG Olympics, Basketball Club and others like More Honors, Debate Club, Rock Jamming Club, Chess Club, Business Club and Investment Management Club are also available. The Better Community Club members work on social projects. Their activities include a multi-year educational project at Blagoevgrad's "St. Nikolay Mirlikliyski" orphanage; fundraising campaigns for local centers for people with disabilities and a local family afflicted with serious health problems; and others. The AUBG Choir was created in 1993 by its director – associate professor of music – Hristo Krotev. The choir has received a number of national and international awards. The Broadway Performance Club stages musicals for the students and faculty every year. The AUBG community has already seen Chicago, West Side Story, Hairspray, Moulin Rouge, Grease, Memphis, All Shook Up, Burlesque, Catch me If You Can and Hair. After its performances in Blagoevgrad, the musical goes on a tour around the country. The Psychology Club aims to spread awareness about mental health on campus, while also organizing events, workshops and guest lectures related to Psychology.

Acceleration Program Elevate

AUBG launched its first Acceleration Program Elevate in 2019. This helps student entrepreneurs and recent alumni start their first businesses. During the four-month program, teams of two to four AUBGers have access to many workshops, training and a mentorship network of experienced entrepreneurs and AUBG alumni. Each team gets $5000 as capital to kick-start their development. Designed to provide students with startup guidance, the accelerator doubles as a way to support the university: AUBG will have a 5% stake in each company that comes out of the program.

Student media

There are several student media on campus (broadcast, print, and electronic) which chronicle university events and town life, among them student newspaper AUBG Daily, and Bulgaria's oldest private radio station Radio AURA.

Research and innovation

Students participate in conferences and competitions worldwide, such as the Carroll Round International Student Research conference at Georgetown University, USA and the annual Microsoft's Imagine Cup competition. The Goldman Sachs Global Leaders Program has repeatedly recognized AUBG students’ potential. AUBG hosts its own research conference every year, where students and faculty present research projects. In Fall 2016, the innovation hub “Aspire” opened doors. It encourages AUBG students to create something, whether it is a start-up business, a tech venture or a book. “Aspire” is a shared working space that aims to foster the exchange of ideas among the AUBG community and to facilitate the transformation of creative visions into reality. The hub is a home of many events related to innovation, inventiveness and inspiration.

Athletics

Every year, AUBG holds its own Olympic games. In the AUBG Olympics, students compete in sports disciplines, such as long jump, soccer, basketball, volleyball, arm wrestling, tug-of-war, horseshoe throwing, and boxing. The university has its own American football team, the AUBG Griffins. Residence halls host table tennis, billiards, aerobic fitness rooms, and gym facilities. There are sports facilities with a basketball court, a football field, two tennis courts and a volleyball court. Those interested in skiing, hiking, horseback riding, boxing, kickboxing, aerobics, volleyball, baseball, yoga, taekwondo, softball, and karate have formed student clubs and intramural teams. Every semester there are soccer and basketball intramural competitions.

Lecture series and conferences

The university hosts business practitioners, scholars and public figures year-round, among them President Rosen Plevneliev (2012-2017) and Bulgaria's EU Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva. Some of the university lecture series include the Distinguished Lecturers Series, the Visiting Poets and Writers Series and the Book Presentations and Readings Series. The American University in Bulgaria regularly hosts international conferences such as AMICAL, ISIH and GLAA.

Notable people

Notable alumni