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American University Data & Information Overview

589 awards Ranking Badges
Great Price Value for Your Money
39% Acceptance Rate
Want the scoop on American University? We’ve put together a comprehensive report on the school that covers what majors The American University offers, how the school ranks, how diverse it is, and much more. Want to know more about a specific stat? Just click on its tile, and you’ll go to a page that goes more in-depth on that subject. You can also use the links below to go directly to any section on this page.

How Well Is American University Ranked?

#80 Best Colleges in Nation
#3 Best Colleges in DC
Audiovisual Communications Highest Ranked Major
Quality Badge

2023 Rankings

College Factual recognizes the best colleges and universities in its annual rankings. These rankings include categories for best overall colleges, best colleges for each major, best value schools, and much more.

American University was awarded 589 badges in the 2023 rankings. The highest ranked major at the school is audiovisual communications.

Overall Quality

College Factual ranked The American University as #80 out of 2,241 colleges and universities in the country on its 2023 Best Colleges list. This lands it a coveted spot in the top 5% of all colleges and universities in the country. This is an improvement over the previous year, when The American University held the #141 spot on the Best Overall Colleges list.

The American University also holds the #3 spot on the Best Colleges in District of Columbia ranking.

See all of the rankings for American University.

Is It Hard to Get Into The American University?

39% Acceptance Rate
66% Of Accepted Are Women
50% Submit SAT Scores

Acceptance Rate

American University has an acceptance rate of 39%, which means the school is serious about who it admits. Take your time in putting together a strong application that highlights why you are a good fit for The American University.

Average Test Scores

About 50% 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 630 and 710. Math scores were between 590 and 680.

SAT Reading and Writing Scores for American University  ( 630 to 710 )
200
800

SAT Math Scores for American University  ( 590 to 680 )
200
800
The American University received ACT scores from 31% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 27 and 32.

ACT Composite Scores for American University  ( 27 to 32 )
1
36

Learn more about American University admissions.

American University Faculty

11 to 1 Student to Faculty
57% Full Time Teachers

Student to Faculty Ratio

The student to faculty ratio is often used to measure the number of teaching resources that a college or university offers its students. The national average for this metric is 15 to 1, but at The American University it is much better at 11 to 1. That's good news for students who want to interact more on a personal level with their teachers.

Percent of Full-Time Faculty

In addition to the student to faculty ratio, some people look at what percentage of faculty members are full-time as a sign of how much time professors will be able to spend with their students. This is because part-time teachers may not be be on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.

The full-time faculty percentage at American University is 57%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  57 out of 100
0
100

Retention and Graduation Rates at American University

85% Freshmen Retention
76% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshmen Retention Rate

American University has a freshmen retention rate of 85%. That's a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It's also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.

Freshmen Retention Rate  85 out of 100
0
100

Graduation Rate

The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor's degree is typically four years. This rate at The American University for first-time, full-time students is 76%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  76 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at American University.

American University Undergraduate Student Diversity

7,453 Full-Time Undergraduates
30.9% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
62.2% Percent Women

During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 7,953 undergraduates at The American University with 7,453 being full-time and 500 being part-time.

How Much Does American University Cost?

$40,088 Net Price
42% Take Out Loans
$37,956 Total Student Loans
The overall average net price of The American University is $40,088. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.

Net Price by Income Group for The American University

$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K +
$21,108 $20,965 $27,374 $33,218 $52,924

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.Note that the net price is typically less than the published for a school. For more information on the sticker price of The American University, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

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 42% of students took out student loans averaging $9,489 a year. That adds up to $37,956 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at The American University is 1.7%. 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.

Get more details about paying for American University.

How Much Money Do The American University Graduates Make?

$71,933 Avg Salary of Grads
High Earnings Boost
Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from The American University with a bachelor's degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $71,933 in their early years. That's great news for The American University students since it is 69% more than the average college graduate's salary of $42,485 per year.

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See which majors at American University make the most money.

Location of American University

District of Columbia State
7,453 Full-Time Undergraduates
Large City Campus Setting
Located in Washington, District of Columbia, American University is a private not-for-profit institution. The location of The American University is great for students who prefer living in an urban area.

Get more details about the location of American University.

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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

American University Majors

71 Majors With Completions
2,109 Undergraduate Degrees
2,278 Graduate Degrees
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 71 majors graduated from American University. Of these students, 2,109 received undergraduate degrees and 2,278 graduated with a master's or doctor's degree. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.

Most Popular Majors Bachelor’s Degrees Average Salary of Graduates
International Relations & National Security 415 $41,948
Political Science & Government 226 $45,217
Business Administration & Management 218 $50,809
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies 119 $44,939
Criminal Justice & Corrections 108 $39,002
Public Relations & Advertising 100 $45,098
Economics 90 $48,661
Finance & Financial Management 86 $64,161
Public Health 82 $36,775
General Psychology 81 $35,226

Learn more about the majors offered at American University along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Online Learning at The American University

33% Take At Least One Class Online
11% Take All Classes Online

Online learning options are becoming more and more popular at American colleges and universities. Online classes are great for students who have busy schedules or for those who just want to study on their own time.

In 2019-2020, 4,609 students took at least one online class at American University. This is an increase from the 2,815 students who took online classes the previous year.

Year Took at Least One Online Class Took All Classes Online
2019-2020 4,609 1,597
2018-2019 2,815 1,307
2017-2018 1,027 478
2016-2017 1,926 1,244
2015-2016 1,602 879

Learn more about online learning at American University.

If you’re considering American University, here are some more schools you may be interested in knowing more about.

Curious on how these schools stack up against The American University? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare college on the features that matter most to you!

Notes and References

Footnotes

*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.

References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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