Description

The American College of Sofia (ACS) is one of the oldest American educational institutions outside the United States, tracing its roots to a boys' school founded in 1860 at Plovdiv and a girls' school founded in 1863 at Stara Zagora. The school was shut down in 1942 by the Bulgarian government and reopened its doors to a preparatory class of 100 students in September 1992. ACS is among the top private college preparatory schools in the Balkans. Admission is highly selective. Integrating the values and best practices of American pedagogy with the rich educational traditions of Bulgaria and Europe, we seek to develop critical thinking, lifelong intellectual curiosity, leadership, and collaboration among multi-talented students of various social, cultural, economic, and geographic backgrounds. ACS graduates are accepted into some of the most prestigious universities in the U.S. and Europe and are valued critical thinkers and problem solvers able to set clear goals and achieve them. They are engaged in social issues and are able to compete with outstanding students world-wide. We provide a rigorous university preparatory education to motivated young people and are fully accredited by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science, and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, as well as the International Baccalaureate Organization. Currently the IB Diploma Program is only available to non-Bulgarian international students. The majority of students receive both a Bulgarian diploma and an American diploma. The ACS curriculum is rigorous and most courses are taught in English at an advanced college/university preparatory level.