American University of Central Asia

American University of Central Asia

Former names	American University in Kyrgyzstan (AUK)
Motto	"Knowledge, Wisdom, Freedom"
Type	University
Established	1993
President	Dr. Andrew Wachtel
Vice-president	Bermet Tursunkulova
Academic staff	310
Administrative staff	120
Undergraduates	1200
Location	42.879872,74.60522
Campus	Urban
Colors	Blue and Yellow
Website	http://www.auca.kg/

The American University of Central Asia (AUCA), formerly the Kyrgyz-American University and the American University in Kyrgyzstan, is a liberal arts university located in Bishkek, the capital of the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan.

AUCA was established in 1997 with funding from the United States government and the Open Society Institute, a non-government donor organization set up by Hungarian philanthropist George Soros. One of its founders was human rights attorney and journalist Scott Horton. While the university focuses on offering higher education opportunities to Central Asian students, its student body and faculty comes from all over Asia and other parts of the world.

In March 2010, AUCA has established an official partnership with Bard College located in the state of New York, United States. The partnership allows students of American Studies, Anthropology, Economics, European Studies, International and Comparative Politics, Journalism and Mass Communications, Psychology, Sociology, and Software Engineering programs to receive liberal arts degrees fully accredited in the US.

According to the USAID accreditation report, "AUCA is the first higher education institution in Central Asia that functions according to the American model, with a credit-hour system, an American-style liberal arts curriculum, and a commitment to democratic values, freedom of expression and inquiry, and academic integrity and honesty."

The university is chartered in Kyrgyzstan and is authorized by the Kyrgyz Ministry of Education to offer the Kyrgyz National Diploma in eleven undergraduate programs and one graduate program (an MBA). AUCA also offers American-style diplomas, and students are required to take courses in both Russian and English. Currently AUCA and Bard College are entering into a collaboration to develop a joint-degree program, in which students at AUCA will receive both Kyrgyz diplomas and US accredited diplomas from Bard College.