Academics at American University

All About Academics

Academics are the heart of the college experience. This overview pulls together the essentials of academic life at American University: its faculty, its majors and fields of study, and its online learning options.

Jump to any section below, or follow a link to dig deeper into a specific part of academic life at American University:

• Faculty Resources
• Most Popular Majors
• Additional Questions to Ask
• Continue Your Research

Faculty Resources

With 10 students for every instructional faculty member, American University ranks among the best colleges for instructional attention when compared with the national average of 15 to 1. With 54% of instructors full time, American University is above the national average of 47%.

For the full breakdown — tenure status, part-time and adjunct share, and how the faculty compares with the national average — see the faculty composition page.

Most Popular Majors

American University offers 80 majors with reported completions across 24 broad fields of study.

Degrees offered at American University are summarised below:

The most popular majors at American University, measured by graduates, are listed below.

See the full majors breakdown on the academic majors page.

Questions Worth Asking

As you weigh academic life at American University, a few more questions are worth asking:

• Need flexibility? Check whether American University offers the online or summer classes that fit your schedule — about 1,184 undergraduates study at least partly online. Explore online learning.
• Interested in outcomes? Look at how well American University retains and graduates its students — 88% of full-time freshmen return). Explore graduation rates.
• Worried about job prospects? Ask about employment outcomes for recent graduates of American University.

Explore Further on American University

Follow the links below for a deeper look at a specific part of academic life:

• Academic Majors at American University — the full list of majors, concentrations and graduation numbers
• Faculty & Class Sizes at American University — student-faculty ratio, full-time vs adjunct, and tenure detail
• Graduation and Retention at American University — how well the school retains and graduates students
• Online Learning at American University — online and distance enrollment options
• Accreditation at American University — the schools accreditation and what it means