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Why Liberal Arts at AUBG? 

Explore disciplines

Combine majors

Experience hands-on learning

Connect disciplines

The Liberal Arts and Sciences model of education

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What is Liberal Arts and Sciences Education?

We like to say that a Liberal Arts degree teaches you how to think, not what to think.

  • We don’t expect you to have your career path figured out right after high school. If you don’t know what you want to study yet, that’s ok. In fact, that’s great! When you enter AUBG, you have two years to choose your major(s) and meanwhile, you can explore various interests, enroll in different classes and student clubs, talk to classmates and professors and get to see what suits you best. Of course, if you know what you want to study right away, you can focus on that from the very first day you set foot on campus. It’s all about the freedom of choice!

  • Once you graduate, you will become part of a tight-knit alumni community of successful professionals. The AUBG alumni take the “pay it forward” principle seriously and participate in a variety of initiatives to support current students and younger graduates. Some of those include the Alumni Mentorship Program, the AUBG Job Fair, and the AUBG Accelerator.

    Our students make friendships that last a lifetime and often get together after graduating AUBG to collaborate on their projects or startup ideas. No matter where life takes you upon graduation, you will always have someone from AUBG to offer you support, advice, or a networking opportunity.

  • And here’s something else: you don’t have to study just one thing. At AUBG, you can graduate with up to two majors and two minors. The majority of our students choose to pursue more than one major because it gives them a unique advantage upon graduation. If you’ve studied both Business Administration and Journalism and Mass Communication, for example, you already have critical knowledge in not one, but two fields of study that marketing agencies value a lot. Or, if you choose to study Political Science and International Relations and complement it with minors in Modern Languages and Cultures and Public Policy, you are already ahead of most other students who want to embark on a political career. With 13 majors and 19 minors at AUBG, you can imagine how many combinations you can choose from, and what career opportunities that creates for you.

  • The Liberal Arts System is not only different in terms of what you study, but also in terms of how you study. We emphasize small class sizes (23 students on average) so that each professor can pay personal attention to each student, and so that you get to share your opinion, participate in class discussions and work on group projects. That approach favors practical skills over dry theory, critical thinking over memorizing material, and individual strengths over standardized knowledge.

    AUBG also offers a truly international experience on campus so that freedom of thought can develop and thrive. Our professors come from prestigious universities on five continents, and you’ll get to learn with students from 45+ nationalities.

    Last but not least, there are dozens of student clubs to complement your classroom learning. You can organize international conferences, host radio shows, join our university musicals, compete in sports tournaments, participate in debates, or choose from many other exciting activities on campus.

  • The General Education (GenEd) courses are also key to the Liberal Arts System. That means that in addition to the classes in your major(s), you will also take courses in a variety of disciplines such as literature, history, science, and arts. Students who are not used to the Liberal Arts model may find that idea odd at first, but you’d be surprised at the intricate connections that exist among all disciplines. Upon graduation, many AUBG alumni say that it was precisely some of their GenEd courses that they loved the most and that played a crucial role in their career development.

  • Finding a job in the 21st century can be tricky. A profession that was popular for a long time may cease to exist because of advancing technologies and automation. On the other hand, a profession we didn’t even think we need suddenly becomes popular as new challenges and opportunities arise in the world.

    A Liberal Arts degree is the best guarantee that you’ll be prepared for the future of work. Why? Because you’ll be equipped not only with solid knowledge in more than one field but also with the critical thinking skills needed to make sense of that knowledge.

  • Universities across the globe are happy to accept students with a Liberal Arts degree because they know that such students possess curiosity, critical thinking, and persistence: qualities that are all highly valued in the world of academics.

    Many AUBG alumni have continued their education with a master’s degree in universities like Harvard, MIT, Cambridge, Oxford, and The London School of Economics. Some have gone straight for PhD degrees in STEM fields in some of the most prestigious schools in the world. And a few have themselves become respected professors in the U.S., Europe, and beyond.

  • Liberal arts universities often offer generous scholarship and financial aid opportunities, and AUBG is no exception. In addition to large donations from organizations like America for Bulgaria, the university also receives contributions from companies who look forward to recruiting AUBG graduates, as well as scholarship donations from our very own alumni.