RIT Launches American University in Kosovo

Spurring economic and social recovery in war-torn Kosovo, Rochester Institute of Technology’s College of Applied Science and Technology, the college of innovation, next month launches the American University in Kosovo, located in Pristina.

Classes, instructed in English primarily by American faculty, begin Oct. 6 for the inaugural class of about 70 freshmen. Studies focus on business, economics, computers and the application of management and technology in overcoming business development, economic and manufacturing challenges.

“The curriculum meets the economic development needs of the region and strengthens the climate for Kosovo’s transition to a free-market economy,” says Jim Myers, director of RIT’s Center for Multidisciplinary Studies, which is collaborating with the American University in Kosovo Foundation to operate American University in Kosovo. Education is a driving force for economic and social recovery in regions such as Kosovo, plagued by years of ethnic strife, Myers adds.

Classes in service management, multidisciplinary studies, business development, economics, marketing, American history, science and writing will be offered this academic year. Credits, recognized as from both American University in Kosovo and RIT, can be earned on site and online, reflecting RIT’s strengths in online learning and global education, Myers says.

American University in Kosovo will initially grant two-year associate degrees with plans to offer four-year degrees in a range of programs. The university expects to move to renovated facilities on the outskirts of Pristina by early 2005.

“What has been a dream of the Kosovar and American organizers is becoming reality,” says Louis Sell, executive director of the American University in Kosovo Foundation.

The university is RIT’s third Eastern European venture, joining the American College of Management and Technology in Dubrovnik, Croatia, and the U.S. Business School in Prague, Czech Republic.

RIT’s College of Applied Science and Technology, the college of innovation, offers 71 undergraduate and graduate degree programs and 39 certificates and diplomas emphasizing the application of technology. The college leads the university in adult education, corporate education, online learning, outreach education and international studies, including programs taught at the American College of Management and Technology in Dubrovnik, Croatia, and American University in Kosovo in Pristina. The college is home to the world’s only university-level course in space tourism development, and its packaging science degree program is one of only six in the nation.

Founded in 1829 and located in western New York state, RIT is internationally recognized as a leader in computing, engineering, imaging, technology, fine and applied arts, and education for the deaf. RIT enrolls 15,500 students in more than 340 undergraduate and graduate programs.

For the past decade, U.S. News & World Report has ranked RIT as one of the nation’s leading comprehensive universities. RIT is also included in Fisk’s Guide to America’s Best Colleges and Barron’s Best Buys in Education.