History

American College Dublin, accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, was founded as a not-for-profit independent educational trust in May 1993 by Lynn University, a liberal arts institution located in Boca Raton, Florida. The College admitted its first liberal arts and business degree students in September 1993 and graduated its first class in 1996. The first graduation ceremony’s keynote speaker was Jean Kennedy Smith, American ambassador to Ireland and sister of former President John F. Kennedy, beginning a tradition of distinguished keynote speakers at the College commencements that would subsequently include Nobel Peace Prize recipients John Hume and Senator George Mitchell, former Attorney General and Goldman Sachs Chairman Peter Sutherland, former President of the European Parliament Pat Cox, Fianna Fail leader Micheál Martin, former Tánaiste Mary Harney and the sister of the former US Vice President Joe Biden, Valerie Biden Owens. The development of the College’s Dublin campus continued apace through the 1990s; in 2002 the institution expanded its operations with the establishment of a sister campus in Delaware, which became known as American College Delaware.

A constituent college of Irish American University, the institution is approved by the Department of Education of the State of Delaware and is accredited by the regional accrediting agency for the state, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE). Responsible for higher education accreditation in the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington, DC, and Delaware. American College Dublin also offers some programs accredited by Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), including baccalaureate programs in liberal arts, international business and accounting and finance, and a master’s program in international business.

In the years since its foundation American College Dublin has consolidated its position as a high quality liberal arts institution. Student numbers have increased from a handful to the hundreds, with alumni numbering in the thousands since the first graduation ceremony. Physically, the College has grown from a single house on Merrion Square to one which occupies three adjacent properties, two to either side of the original site. The support facilities have expanded to include an enlarged library, computer laboratories, student dining and recreation facilities. Yet, amid the changes, some things have remained constant. The College retains its commitment to delivering a postsecondary education that adheres to the best traditions of the American liberal arts model; one that is stimulating, challenging, interesting and useful. It remains committed to teaching in small classes (generally no more than thirty students); to teaching which is responsive to the needs of students of varying abilities and backgrounds; and to teaching which actively involves the student in the learning and assessment processes. It continues to encourage and project an international outlook, through its student recruitment (60% of the total student body comes from outside the Republic of Ireland), through the content of many of its courses and through its fostering of links with the international community in Ireland. Finally, the College continues to promote its American connection, most obviously through its name, but in substance also: through its grounding in the liberal arts, its accreditation with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, its historical links with Lynn University, its sister campus in Lewes, Delaware, its US study abroad program and its active recruitment of American students for four-year baccalaureate and master’s programs of study.