Academics

Maryland-in-Rome is based at the American University of Rome (AUR), the oldest independent, four-year, degree-granting American institution of higher learning in Rome.  AUR offers a rigorous academic program that is dedicated to excellence in education and promotes cross-cultural exchange.  Students in the Maryland-in-Rome program will live and learn in a stimulating, intellectually vibrant environment, with classmates and faculty from around the world.  There is an emphasis on active learning, a goal that the University’s small faculty-to-student ratio helps to facilitate.  All courses are taught in English, except for language classes.

Program participants enroll in 12-16 credits, choosing from the over 150 courses that have been approved by academic departments at Maryland and are offered for resident credit, including courses that will fulfill major, minor, and CORE requirements.  Maryland-in-Rome students may only take those courses that have been approved for resident credit by the academic departments at the University of Maryland.  Maryland-in-Rome classes appear on your UM transcript just like the classes you take in College Park, and the grades count toward your Maryland GPA. 

Because Maryland-in-Rome students enroll in courses at the American University of Rome, availability of courses changes every semester and the University of Maryland Study Abroad Office cannot guarantee that there will be enough space in every course requested. Courses may also be canceled before the start of the semester. Students on the Maryland-in-Rome program are given the opportunity to select alternate courses in order to address the possibility that a selected course may not be available.

Approved AUR Courses for Maryland students

Course offerings for each term are usually not available before the Maryland-in-Rome application deadline.  However, you may find out when each class is typically offered by referring to the AUR Course Catalog. 

Maryland-in-Rome Spring 2010 Approved Course List

What do past AUR students have to say? 

"Academics at the American University of Rome are extremely different from those at the University of Maryland. The class sizes were refreshingly small and the material was very engaging."

"The professors were very knowledgeable and care a lot about the information they teach." 

"Classes were very small compared to what I am used to at UMD but I really enjoyed getting to know the professors. All of my teachers were very good  and I made a lot of friends. Many classes only met once a week for four hours so there was plenty of time to complete homework."