What's in a Name?
We are often asked about the significance of our name. 
Why are we named American International College? The answer goes back to our beginnings, when we were founded in 1885 for the express purpose of educating people new to the country for United States citizenship and for a better life through education.
In the late 1800s, we educated several waves of immigrants to the United States; first French-Canadians, and later others from Europe, Africa, Asia, and North, Central and South America. In 1905, our then president, Reverend Samuel H. Lee best summarized our earliest vision:
"For more than a hundred years the American people have stood upon the Atlantic shore and with outstretched hands, have invited the oppressed in other lands to come hither and enjoy the blessings of freedom. For the last three decades the invitation has been accepted by vast numbers. How are they received? It is not uncommon for men whose ancestors came here earlier to say, 'let immigrants be hewers of wood and drawers of water' ...would it not be wise to take the youths and educate them, developing them according to their best abilities, molding them under the higher ideals of America, and so render them tributary to the uplifting of the great composite nation that we are to be?"
President Lee realized much of his vision of Americanizing the foreign-born. By 1906, American International College was educating students from 17 countries.
American Internatonal College has changed in some ways from its early days, but our name and the relevance of our mission has not. American International College continues to recognize the value of providing students with the opportunity to learn with, and from, students from diverse cultural backgrounds. Consequently, the Admissions Office is fully committed to the recruitment of students from throughout the nation and the world.
The College continues in its 119th year to be true to its mission: to provide a quality, transforming education to a diverse body of undergraduate and graduate students for life-long leadership and success in a global environment.
American International College is American, is International, and is a small private College producing big results...and fulfilling big dreams.
American International College
1000 State Street
Springfield MA 01109
(800) 242-3142
inquiry@aic.edu