The American University of Phnom Penh was pleased to welcome members of the twelfth grade class from Zaman International School to AUPP’s Toul Kork campus this week. 120 students, accompanied by some of their teachers, toured the campus, saw the classrooms, computer lab, writing center, and library, and met members of the faculty and administration.
Welcoming the visitors to AUPP, speakers including the University founders, administrators, and faculty emphasized the importance of quality higher education for Cambodia its citizens. They outlined the history of the University and its plans for the future, and emphasized AUPP’s commitment to provide its students with rigorous, high quality educational experience designed to prepare its students to be competitive not just in the local job market but also internationally.
AUPP offers three Bachelor’s degree programs. Should students decide to continue their studies in the U.S. after successfully completing a year at AUPP, however, they can transfer to Middlesex Community College (MCC) in Massachusetts. There they will study for one year to obtain an Associate Degree and, if successful, gain automatic admission to any public university in Massachusetts. Alternatively, the students may apply to over a thousand universities throughout the United States whose admissions requirements they meet.
Speaking to the Zaman students, Dr. Margaret Hartman, AUPP’s Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs explained the AUPP program model, in which students begin their studies with two years of Liberal Studies and General Education courses. In the last two years of their studies, students focus on courses in one of the three major areas of study currently offered at AUPP: Business and Economics, Law, and Political Science and Diplomacy.
One of AUPP’s faculty members, Dr. Grant Rich, provided students with an example of one of the subjects all students study as part of their General Education curriculum. Psychology, he said, is an part of a Liberal Studies education, and there are wide variety of career opportunities available to students who choose to continue their studies in psychology.
The American University of Phnom Penh is proud to count four alumni of Zaman International School among the members of its first incoming class of students, and looks forward to welcoming more Zaman graduates to its student body in the future.