United Arab Emirates

American University of Sharjah

The American University of Sharjah (AUS),is a coeducational higher educational institution in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, founded in 1997. Its medium of instruction is English, and it is based on American-style universities. Although, like most other "American Universities," it is not a branch of the American University in Washington, DC, USA, it does have a close affiliation with that school.

American University of Sharjah sits on the southern edge of Sharjah and is approximately ten kilometers south-east of the center of the city and about fifteen kilometers from Dubai. It therefore offers a full range of amenities: a mini mart, pharmacy, barbershop, billiards room, bowling alley, full gym, a large selection of food and restaurants, and full-facility dormitories. There is a new and large student center with a number of coffee shops, restaurants, and other facilities. Its library, completed in 2006, includes a new collection of very recent books from around the world, approximately 95% of which are in English. The library is maintained with a state-of-the-art digital system, with which students can have access to books and academic journals from the web and borrow books with a serve-yourself system.

It is organized into four main schools: Engineering, Arts and Sciences, Architecture and Design, and Business and Management. All of these schools have their own majors and studies. The American University of Sharjah aspires to be one of the best universities in the Persian Gulf region and annually receives hundreds of foreign students. Its student body consists of around 20% Emirati, another 20% from other GCC countries, around 30% from the rest of the Arab world including Jordan, Palestine, Egypt and Sudan, and the rest come from everywhere else, with significant numbers of Iranians, Indians, and Pakistanis.