American University Overview
American University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Washington, District of Columbia. The location of The American University is great for students who prefer living in an urban area.
What Is American University Known For?
- The 2% student loan default rate at The American University is better than the national rate of 10.1%. That's a good sign that you may be able to pay off student loans easier than your peers at other schools can.
- The highest award offered at The American University is the doctor's degree.
- In 2017-2018, 56% of the faculty were full-time.
- After graduation, The American University bachelor's degree recipients go on to jobs where they make $61,000 a year. That's about 50% more than their peers at other schools.
- The average The American University student graduates in 4.1 years. That's better than the national average of 4.4 years.
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American University Rankings
The American University is ranked #322 out of 2,320 schools in the nation for overall quality on our 2021 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 15% of all schools in the nation.
These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.
The American University has been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.
Rank | Ranking Name | Share |
---|---|---|
#115 | Best Master’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at The American University.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards The American University has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#2 | Best Colleges for Legal Professions | College Factual |
#9 | Best Colleges for Communication & Journalism | College Factual |
#9 | Best Colleges for Criminal Justice & Corrections | College Factual |
#14 | Best Colleges for Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting | College Factual |
#31 | Best Colleges for Social Sciences | College Factual |
#38 | Best Teaching Schools | Teaching Degree Search |
Where Is American University?

Contact details for The American University are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 4400 Massachusetts Ave Nw, Washington, DC 20016-8001 |
Phone: | 202-885-1000 |
Website: | WWW.AMERICAN.EDU |
Facebook: | http://www.facebook.com/AmericanUniversity |
Twitter: | http://www.twitter.com/AmericanU |
How Do I Get Into The American University?
You can apply to The American University online at: www.american.edu/admissions/apply/index.cfm
Admission Requirements for The American University
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | required |
High School Rank | neither required nor recommended |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | required |
Recommendations | required |
SAT or ACT Scores | considered but not required |
TOEFL | required |
How Hard Is It To Get Into The American University?
Approximately 35% of accepted students are men and 65% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 28%, and the acceptance rate for women is 30%.
Average Test Scores
About 49% of students accepted to The American University submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 610 and 690. Math scores were between 570 and 660.
Can I Afford American University?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At The American University, approximately 56% of students took out student loans averaging $7,801 a year. That adds up to $31,204 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at The American University is 1.8%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
American University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 6,024 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 7,952 full-time undergraduates at The American University, 38% are male and 62% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of American University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 523 |
Black or African American | 531 |
Hispanic or Latino | 987 |
White | 4,235 |
International Students | 1,030 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 646 |
Geographic Diversity
District of Columbia students aren't the only ones who study at American University. At this time, 47 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 134 countries are represented at The American University. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, Saudi Arabia, and India.
Online Learning at American University
The following chart shows how the online learning population at The American University has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 3rd most popular in District of Columbia for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2017-2018.
Online Growth Rankings of The American University
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at American University was 53.0%. This is the #485 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at The American University regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of The American University majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at The American University ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at The American University.
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
American University Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By Samschoe under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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